Praise for The Planter of Modern Life
“Bromfield’s far-reaching vision and his disarming devotion … come alive in Stephen Heyman’s wonderful biography — of a person, of an idea, of an epoch … an inspiriting read in its entirety — the kind that restores your faith in the humans that make humanity.”
— Maria Popova, THE MARGINALIAN
★
“Utterly engrossing…Heyman marshals meticulous detail, unflinching appraisal, indelible personalities, and rich character study in a narrative that straddles worlds and eras and never flags. These elements coalesce within a fluid, remarkably propulsive writing style that keeps the pages turning. This is a biography of dual landscapes—literary and pastoral—as much as a chronicle of a man. . . An outstanding debut.”
— KIRKUS, starred 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 journey of discovery reinforces growing calls to rebuild healthy, fertile soil around the world.”
— David R. Montgomery, NATURE
★
“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.”
—Colleen Mondor, BOOKLIST, starred review
★
“Bromfield drew attention to social and ecological issues that remain of critical importance, and Heyman has performed a most valuable service by producing such a lucid account of this extraordinary and appealing man.”
— Philip Conford, AGRICULTURAL HISTORY REVIEW
★
“Here is a book from which you will learn things you never suspected, a book that will renew your faith in passion and what Bromfield called those peculiarly American traits: integrity and idealism… It is also exactly the sort of book to read right now, when we are stuck in our homes, and, if we are lucky, watching the landscape grow greener and thinking about starting our own gardens. . . It is not a story with a happy ending, but it feels necessary and very American during this challenging time. We are lucky, indeed, that Heyman decided it was a story worth telling, and we must be eternally grateful that he has told it with such authority and breadth and compassion.”
— Roberta Silman, THE ARTS FUSE
★
“Fans of The Great Gatsby and Alice Waters will be amazed and seduced by Louis Bromfield’s epic life story.”
— MARTHA STEWART LIVING
★
“As the book begins to treat matters of history and agronomy, Heyman shows an agility of style and deftness in handling technical subjects. He can explain important concepts in soil health and farm economics in a few, clear sentences. What’s more, in Heyman’s hands, these pages do not read as boring interludes between the wild story of Bromfield’s life, but as an organic part of the story.”
—Nathan Beacom, FRONT PORCH REPUBLIC
★
“Fascinating…Louis Bromfield is the author and renaissance farmer you have never heard of but wish you had. This ‘Sinatra of the soil’ was dismissed by many as a populist writer of potboiler novels who dabbled in gentleman farming, yet his techniques were revolutionary and are still in use today.”
—Christopher Kimball, MILK STREET RADIO
★
“Skillfully written, assiduously reported, The Planter of Modern Life …makes a sturdy case that Bromfield was a pivot in the environmental movement’s transition from ‘the Dust Bowl and The Grapes of Wrath to Earth Day and Silent Spring.’”
— Nell Beram, SHELF AWARENESS, starred review
★
“Heyman brings this champion of the organic food movement to life...with keen attention to detail.”
— SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN
★
“You don't have to be someone very interested in farming or gardening to find this book engrossing.”
★
“A concise, compelling biography…filled with fascinating anecdotes, thoughtful analysis and graceful writing.”
—Marylynne Pitz, PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE
★
“That Heyman manages to captivate readers owes much to the way he tells the Bromfield story critically and compassionately, while underscoring his subject’s importance six decades after his death.”
★
“This exemplary biography…restores Louis Bromfield to his place in both European and American cultural history.”
— THE POST AND COURIER (Charleston, S.C.)
Advance praise
“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 and author of The Third Plate
★
“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, Pulitzer Prize finalist for American Eden
★
“Such a rich and varied character — his friendships vast, his environmental beliefs powerful, and his political intelligence matched only by his integrity. Kudos to Stephen Heyman for bringing this visionary back to us in all his well-deserved glory. If he had written Bromfield’s life as a novel, readers would have found the tale too tall to believe.”
— Deirdre Bair, author of Parisian Lives
★
“I couldn’t put this book down. Few farmer-writers could fire the imagination more than Louis Bromfield. I count him as one of my favorite and most profound mentors, even though he died before I was born. 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