At times a personal memoir, at times a philosophical discussion, Island Farm is a snapshot of the American agrarian tradition. Much in the style of books such as Letters from an American Farmer, Arthur Versluis recounts the story of the Versluis family’s orchards near Grand Rapids, Michigan, founded by his great-grandfather more than a century ago. With a palimpsest of memories and stories, Versluis shares his life growing up and living on the family farm while also lamenting the future of these cultural icons. Versluis speculates about what is being lost as America allows its farmland and farms to be destroyed. Above all, however, Island Farm is a celebration of what it means to live and work on a generational family farm. It brings us into the agrarian world as a living connection to the earth, to the growing of crops, to the past, and to the future.
“James G. Cowan has said of Island Farm...‘Versluis has created a Walden for our time.’ As in Walden, so in Island Farm, one finds...a magnanimity of literary and philosophical verities that confirm a book’s classic standing: the astonishing coalescence of vision and style, of simplicity, clarity, and vigor of language, thought, and judgment.”
—George A. Panichas
