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The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution Hardcover – April 14, 2020

by Stephen Heyman (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 145 ratings
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Winner of the 2021 IACP Award for Literary or Historical Food Writing
Longlisted for the 2021 Plutarch Award

How a leading writer of the Lost Generation became America’s most famous farmer and inspired the organic food movement.

Louis Bromfield was a World War I ambulance driver, a Paris expat, and a Pulitzer Prize–winning novelist as famous in the 1920s as Hemingway or Fitzgerald. But he cashed in his literary success to finance a wild agrarian dream in his native Ohio. The ideas he planted at his utopian experimental farm, Malabar, would inspire America’s first generation of organic farmers and popularize the tenets of environmentalism years before Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.

A lanky Midwestern farm boy dressed up like a Left Bank bohemian, Bromfield stood out in literary Paris for his lavish hospitality and his green thumb. He built a magnificent garden outside the city where he entertained aristocrats, movie stars, flower breeders, and writers of all stripes. Gertrude Stein enjoyed his food, Edith Wharton admired his roses, Ernest Hemingway boiled with jealousy over his critical acclaim. Millions savored his novels, which were turned into Broadway plays and Hollywood blockbusters, yet Bromfield’s greatest passion was the soil.

In 1938, Bromfield returned to Ohio to transform 600 badly eroded acres into a thriving cooperative farm, which became a mecca for agricultural pioneers and a country retreat for celebrities like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who were married there in 1945).

This sweeping biography unearths a lost icon of American culture, a fascinating, hilarious and unclassifiable character who―between writing and plowing―also dabbled in global politics and high society. Through it all, he fought for an agriculture that would enrich the soil and protect the planet. While Bromfield’s name has faded into obscurity, his mission seems more critical today than ever before.

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  1. Print length
    352 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    W. W. Norton & Company
  4. Publication date
    April 14, 2020
  5. Dimensions
    6.3 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1324001895
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1324001898
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Heyman applies keen narrative skills to tell the story of Bromfield’s celebrity-studded life―two lives, really―as an author and farmer. The result is a rattling good yarn."
― Barry Estabrook, The Wall Street Journal

"Inspirational...Bromfield’s original insight was seeing the crucial importance of soil health before science really understood why this matters, or how to build it."
― David R. Montgomery, Nature

"The Planter of Modern Life is an inspiriting read in its entirety ― the kind that restores your faith in the humans that make humanity."
― Maria Popova, The Marginalian

"Mesmerizing. Abounding in wit, insight, elegance, and narrative talent, The Planter of Modern Life is at once terribly entertaining and subtly illuminating―rather like Bromfield himself, a man at ease in the most rarified Parisian gatherings and bumping along on a tractor on his Ohio farm. This original, ardent visionary of the American environmental future still has much to teach us."
― Victoria Johnson, author of American Eden

"This is more than a sparkling biography; it’s a botanical adventure story of a full, plant-based bohemian life, following the journey of a modern Johnny Appleseed from Ohio to World War I France to Hollywood to our dinner plates."
― Michael W. Twitty, author of The Cooking Gene

"The astounding tale of Louis Bromfield, a rare and accomplished figure who has vanished from collective memory, despite his importance to issues ranging from organic food to the ephemeral nature of fame. An engaging and fascinating book on many levels."
― Mark Kurlansky, author of Cod and Salt

"If Stephen Heyman had written Louis Bromfield’s life as a novel, readers would have found the tale too tall to believe."
― Deirdre Bair, author of Parisian Lives

"A brilliant, engaging read about the life of a literary icon and, until now, unrecognized founder of the organic movement."
― Dan Barber, chef of Blue Hill at Stone Barns, author of The Third Plate

"I couldn’t put this book down. In this wonderful biography, Stephen Heyman pulls the curtain back so those of us who practically idolized this bigger-than-life soil spokesman can finally understand the complicated man behind the legend."
― Joel Salatin, founder of Polyface Farm, author of Folks, This Ain’t Normal

"Heyman turns the story of this novelist, screenwriter, nonfiction author, and pioneering farmer into an utterly engrossing account of both his life and his times…[The Planter of Modern Life] is a biography of dual landscapes―literary and pastoral―as much as a chronicle of a man…An outstanding debut."
― Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"In this delightful and exhilarating page-turner…Heyman does an impressive job of combining all of Bromfield’s interests into a cohesive narrative that captivates as both intriguing history and a significant look at early environmentalism."
― Booklist (starred review)

About the Author

Stephen Heyman has written for the New York Times, Slate, Vogue, and many other publications. He is the recipient of fellowships from the Leon Levy Center for Biography and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He lives in Pittsburgh.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company (April 14, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1324001895
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1324001898
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.3 x 1.2 x 9.3 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 145 ratings

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Stephen Heyman

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
145 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Jeanine Collins Malarsky, Author
5.0 out of 5 stars Superior biography about a true Renaissance man.
Reviewed in the United States on May 4, 2020
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I could write a book on my reactions to reading The Planter of Modern Life: Louis Bromfield and the Seeds of a Food Revolution, because Louis Bromfield is a small part of my personal life. In the mid-fifties my family moved to Malabar Farm from Mississippi; my father had been hired to manage the showcase dairy. Prior to and following those “halcyon” years, Louis Bromfield was part of the family conversation, so my personal interest in his story was part of growing up. I still have gifts he brought back from Paris – every child of each farm family received a personal gift for Christmas at the Big House.
Heyman’s book is superb. His writing is meticulous, precise and professional. His research is amazing. He skillfully weaves snippets of letters, books, and other documents together in a masterful narrative answering questions I didn’t know I had about Bromfield’s life. Even though I did know him (as a child), and have read his books, and revisited Malabar Farm numerous times throughout my adulthood, there was much I didn’t know.
I knew he was a famous author. I knew he was a member of the Hollywood glitterati. I’d read his daughter Ellen Geld’s book and I knew his status as a cutting-edge conservationist. But, until I read Stephen Heyman’s book, I had no true perspective on the man and his achievements. Well done!
23 people found this helpful
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Scott
5.0 out of 5 stars An exciting read about a fascinating figure
Reviewed in the United States on April 27, 2020
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This book is an exciting read about an important figure that many of us may have overlooked--Louis Bromfield. Bromfield was a novelist of note once, but his story goes far beyond fictional endeavors. His life ranged from literature to dabbling in foreign policy to ecology and farming. Heyman's biography is written in an engaging style and thoroughly covers the wide range of interests and topics that Bromfield's life touched on: WWI, life among elite European circles, sojourns to India, to his novels and impact on Hollywood. Heyman even captures Bromfield's difficult and powerful personality, which equally led to success and to strife among once close associates. This book is the most thorough work produced on Bromfield, and I'm familiar with almost all the work done on Bromfield. Unlike many of the scholarly works on Bromfield I've read, this one is hard to put down. It's an enjoyable read, complete with archival photos throughout the chapters. It's worth your time, whether you come at it interested in learning more about Bromfield as a historical figure (as I did) or as someone interested in the history of organic farming and environmental protection.
13 people found this helpful
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MT57
5.0 out of 5 stars Exceeded my expectations by a country mile
Reviewed in the United States on June 15, 2020
Verified Purchase
I don’t know exactly what I was expecting but it was certainly less exciting and zestful than this book turned out to be. I certainly wasn’t expecting nearly 100 pages on the Lost Generation in and around Paris between the wars, with Edith Wharton, Ford Madox Ford, Gertrude Stein and Alice B Toklas, Hemingway and Fitzgerald all making substantial appearances. Or Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall getting married on the subject’s farm, with him as Bogie’s best man, a short while after Bogie & his prior wife were throwing the farmer’s glassware at each other. Bromfield’s career as a best-selling novelist and Hollywood screenwriter pales in comparison to his afterhours life. Easily one of the most interesting men in the world. And I haven’t even taken into account the chapters on gardening, organic farming and his impact on agricultural policy. What a ton of fun this was! A great summer read.
9 people found this helpful
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Michael O'Reilly
5.0 out of 5 stars Revival of the Memory of an Unduly Forgotten Author
Reviewed in the United States on July 14, 2020
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The author recounts the life of the author Louis Bromfield who was a contemporary and rival of Hemingway and Fitzgerald and who outsold them when they were all extant. Bromfield went on to become an early advocate of soil conservation and organic farming, and he hosted the wedding of Bogie and Bacall at his farm, Malabar. Ohioans like me still know of Bromfield but other Americans will find this a fascinating read as well. Bromfield was not as great a writer as Hemingway but Hemingway's jealousy did contribute to his books presently being largely out of circulation except through Wooster Press of Wooster, Ohio. "The Rains Came" is one of Bromfield's best and merits a revival. The author shows fantastic skill in locating source material and interview materials even though all the principals in the story are now deceased, and wove the information into a compelling narrative.
3 people found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating personal and historical read
Reviewed in the United States on May 25, 2022
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This book engages the reader from beginning to end covering the life of one of the most important early contributors in principles of environmental farming that you have never heard of. Louis Broomfield lived an unbelievably full and rich life, contributing on many social issues over decades. The author's historical insights are captivating.
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Kevin
5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2020
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What a terrific book by a young author about a fascinating author, renaissance man and pioneer in sustainable and organic farming. How is that it that I had never heard of Louis Bromfield until I read this excellent book? He is enigmatic, egotitistical yet so genuine....and he loved our earth and environment. Fascinating life, great book. This is a must read on so many levels. My only suggestion to Mr. Heyman.....keep writing! You have a great career as an author ahead of you! Well done!
5 people found this helpful
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Steve
3.0 out of 5 stars Hard to keep my attention
Reviewed in the United States on May 14, 2021
This book covers the life of Louis Bromfield, a writer and thinker who has been lost to a modern audience. Certainly an interesting and controversial man, but if you care little about organic farming or celebrity name dropping, the book is not for you. I have little interest in either subject.
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4thranktensor
5.0 out of 5 stars Great insights into the life of Louis Bromfield and his Malabar Farm.
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2021
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As a fan of Bromfield's nonfiction books on farming, I found this book to be a valuable addition to my library. Lots of "inside" info of which I was not aware, including the startling fact that one of his well-known anecdotes that appears in "Pleasant Valley" was a complete fiction. Along with Bromfield's daughter's book "The Heritage," you'll come away with a new appraisal of Bromfield and his work at the beginning of the "green revolution."
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