I should try reading Lanes’ poetry. I like his use of language very much. But in this memoir he felt so intoxicated with his own words, he sometimes went on and on without any thread of a story to hold me there. I love language, but I need plot more than just once in a long while.

I also felt betrayed by the idea that this is a memoir. It is more a confession and a diary. He does reminisce about his life, but it is done in such way that at times I felt I was eavesdropping in a soliloquy that was never meant to be heard by anyone.

Yet, yet..., there are some jewels in here. The few pages where he talks of his love of words are the best I remember reading from any writer explaining the same love. And the sincere sympathy he portraits for his father’s murderer does reveal something bigger about the man that Patrick Lane must be.

3 stars are maybe unfair. They only mean: “I like it” no more, no less.
( )

Experienced many emotions as I read this book. The moose, the squirrel that was hit by the car, searching for slate, the baby. All in one book ( )

Lane's memoirs is an interesting blend of his first year of sobriety, spent in the garden, and memories of the rest of his life. He switches back and forth between describing the plants and animals in his garden and a vignette from his past. This is done gracefully, though, and the present is *so* focused on the garden, that you're never confused about which time period you're in.

Many reviews have noted how this is a memoir and a gardening book, but I also think it's worth noting that this is also a book about writers. Lane is a writer, and every chapter here contains multiple quotes from other poems and novels (usually not Lane's own). I think reading and writing are almost as prevalent as gardening in this book.

As I am not a gardener, I occasionally found the plant descriptions to be tedious. I could appreciate Lane's knowledge and the beautiful ways he described his garden, but occasionally these sections went on just a bit too long for me before leading back into the past.

Lane tells about his past in a non-linear fashion. He speaks a lot about his mother, and alludes to many events of his life (his father's murder, his brother's death) for hundreds of pages before he actually describes them in full detail. This strategy kept me reading.

I have also lived in or near all of the towns and cities that Lane has lived in, so it was personally enjoyable to recognize the names of nearby lakes, etc.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys gardening and plants, the writing process, possibly someone going through the early stages of sobriety, and BC readers. If you aren't sure you could read through long descriptions of plants and gardening, skip this book, though. ( )

At first, the book looks like a lyric about the beauty of gardens, but it isn't long until the horror of what Lane has gone through appears in an understated way. I am amazed that he survived and made beauty out of what is a terrible history. ( )

Moving description of author's first year of sobriety. ( )