Goat Song: A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese

This memoir describes Kessler's first year as a goat farmer. Kessler describes the day-to-day details of a pastoral existence, its seasonal chores, and mixes in erudite reflections and classical quotations ("the cry of a goat is so haunting and dramatic our word tragedy comes form it: tragoidia in Greek - the cry of the goat. The goat song."). The result is eloquent, literary, but also warm and conversational.

Kessler's memoir not only describes a year in the life of a shepherd, it also describes his own evolution an accomplished cheesemaker - at the end of the novel, one of the most cheese-centric restaurants in New York City has agreed to carry his chevre. He weaves himself into the local rural community, and his description of hay-making at a neighbor's farm is one of the most memorable in the book. He also always moves beyond the personal to the general - a nearby monastery gives him the opportunity to reflect on the monastic tradition of cheese-making and explain simple things like why hard cheeses became the most popular commercially (because they could travel).

While the writing is exquisite, it is not for the squeamish. Kessler excels where his subject matter is messy - his description of the molds growing on his goat cheese, for example, is gorgeous: "Each week a different color will shade their skin, browns and yellows and whites and purples, while inside a world is going on unseen...and they will be like meadows, like fields, like grasslands with one growth coming and another dying - constantly." The author also doesn't hesitate describe how to determine if a she-goat is in heat, or the astonishing sight of a buck orally pleasuring itself.

I very much enjoyed GOAT SONG, for its exquisite, detailed description of a rural lifestyle. Its praise of pure, whole foods, of simple eating and hard work, will appeal to many. At the same time, it's strongly literary and at times quite graphic.
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I loved this book because in addition to talking a lot about making cheese, the dude takes a lot of random trips off to talk about goats in history and literature and stuff...he's always shooting off on tangents, and they happen to be tangents that work for me. Your mileage may vary. My wife loved it too though.more

An intimate introduction to goats, their personalities, care, feeding, breeding and the production of cheese from them, this book is unique, warm, funny and instructional. As Brad Kessler and his wife embark upon a new life to raise goats and produce their own cheese, they also embark upon a life which is rich in difficulties and rewards. Kessler's winsome writing style provides poetic and musical tonalities that capture the bonding of his human family with their adopted goats and gives meaning to the title and artistry of this highly enjoyable book.more