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Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 508 EAN: 9780060505363 ISBN: 0060505362 Label: Harper Perennial Manufacturer: Harper Perennial Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 272 Publication Date: October 01, 2002 Publisher: Harper Perennial Release Date: October 01, 2002 Studio: Harper Perennial Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: Diane Ackerman relishes the world of her garden. As a poet, she finds within it an endless field of metaphors. As a naturalist, she notices each small, miraculous detail: the hummingbirds and their routines, the showy tulips, the crazy yellow forsythia. Of visiting deer she writes, "I love watching the deer, which always arrive like magic or a miracle or the answer to an unasked question." In her popular book A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman celebrates the human body; in A Natural History of My Garden, she turns her attention to the world outside the body, outside the human sphere. Structured by seasons, this is a book of subtle shifts, but the reader never feels lost. Her prose is so welcoming, at times it feels like she's talking directly to you, although her lush, poetic language is the opposite of speech. Distracted urban readers craving a book that will transport them would do well to spend time immersed in these pages, as will gardeners who've lost appreciation for their plot. Ackerman is a generous writer--a teacher who will share treasured, obscure passages from Beckett or Hawthorne. She's emotional and highly charged, and her descriptions are so clear they're small marvels. She's remarkable for her ability to find mystery everywhere. --Emily White Product Description: In the mode of her bestseller A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman celebrates the sensory pleasures of her garden through the seasons. Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers. Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - A Year of Gardening Delights"By retreating farther and farther from nature, we lose our sense of belonging. " ~ pg. 7 Diane Ackerman has created her own oasis of pleasure. She writes about dips in the pool and the pleasure of cutting roses to take them indoors. She loves her apple tree, which also provides fruit for hungry deer. I loved the stories of how she feeds the deer peach slices and corn. There are also humorous tales about rabbits and squirrels. This book truly celebrates the seasons. Diane ... Read More Rating: - A Seasonal View of GardeningDiane Ackerman wrote this book during her convalescence from a knee injury. Being a very active person, she was frustrated by her inability to do her usual routines. So she turned to writing this wonderful "diary" about her daily life, focusing on her garden. As a gardener myself, I could identify with her ongoing war- battling weeds and insects. She also comments on the cycle of nature, from the triumph of lush blooms during the spring and summer, and the approach of fall and the dormancy ... Read More Rating: - Cultivating DelightsWhat a remarkable account of one's love for gardening. This is quite an inspiring book for anyone interested especially in gardening. Also, it is an introduction to those who are not familiar with the gardens and nature and would like to be. I can relate to all Ms. Ackerman, the author, is involved with. It was a friend who introduced this wonderful and uplifting book. It just makes my day and night as a few paragraphs are read prior to the end of my day. What creation as to offer is ... Read More Rating:  - not what I was looking forIn an earlier book, Ms. Ackerman congratulates herself on being open to experience more than most people. In light of this, I found that in this book she is too self-absorbed in herself (ironic for someone who does at times describe the natural world so beautifully) and too enamored of her ability to write prose. She's good at throwing in fascinating factoids on everything from space to psychology to animal behavior, but alas, seems to flit from topic to topic like a bee gathering pollen. That is to ... Read More Rating: - brilliant, meditative, poetic and charmingi checked this book out from the library during the drab winter months of oregon, and i was so enraptured with it that i kept it for 3 weeks, reading it as slowly as possible, savoring every page. it's on my list of books to buy for myself, as well. i thought her writing was fluid and descriptive. i thoroughly enjoyed meandering along with her through her garden and through her life. i imagine her garden must be incredible. i'm no book reviewer, but i can say this: i haven't read any of ackerman's other ... Read More |
