The Rural Voice, 2000-04, Page 54Book Review
Examining our daily work
Reviewed by Deborah Quaile
In a remarkable journey exploring
the countryside through the lives of
people who toil outdoors, authors
David Cruise and Alison Griffiths
have compiled Working the Land.
Cruise and Griffiths are a husband
and wife team, seasoned writers with
six previous best sellers to their
credit. Readers may recognize titles
such as The Great Adventure, the
epic tale of the newly created North-
west Mounted Police's first mission
to bring order into Canada's wild
west, or On South Mountain, the true
story of the Goler clan of Nova
Scotia, who horrified the country
when it was learned they had sex
with their own children. The two also
collaborated on Net Worth, the
fascinating account of the National
Hockey League's fight over pensions
for players, for which they also wrote
the screenplay for the television
movie.
Their newest release, Working the
Land: Journeys into the Heart of
Canada, is a current perspective kith
personal stories and anecdotes of
citizens from across our vast country.
Canadians are tied to the earth, even
though many choose to ignore the
fact. Historically, most residents are
not that far
removed from the
ancestors who built
the country.
The book deals
with more than just
"traditional"
farming of crops
and livestock. The
writers explore
diamond mining in
the tundra, fur
trapping in the
Yukon, potato
growing in PEI, berry farms in BC,
and horse breeding in Ontario. They
provide complete and detailed des-
criptions of their subjects' occup-
ations, offering an intimate portrait of
each person working the land and
span generations of old families,
newcomers and visitors alike.
"Most of our ideas are our own,
$$$$ SELLING YOUR FARM OR INDUSTRIAL
TRACTORS & EQUIPMENT $$$$
WITH OVER 30 YEARS in the new and used equipment business, we have experienced every type of
BUY -SELL arrangement possible. From this experience we offer you the following options to dispose
of your surplus equipment.
OPTION *1 - Consign your equipment to one of our bi-monthly auctions. Over the past 25 years
of auctions, we have developed a clientele of buyers from across Canada, the United States and
overseas. Whatever you have to sell we can produce a buyer and we offer the most competitive
commission rates of any major auction yard in the country.
OPTION *2 - Price Guarantee! We will appraise your equipment and give a guaranteed price. If
it sells in the auction for less it is our loss, for more your gain.
OPTION *3 - We will buy your equipment outright. After we agree on a fair pnce, you will receive
a cheque on the spot. Take the money to the bank and the deal is done.
COMPARE OUR PRICES! - We feel confident that you will receive maximum dollars with any of
• the options we offer. WE TREAT EVERY CUSTOMER THE SAME. HONESTLY!! If you
have equipment to sell, one piece or 50 units, big or small, give Bryan or Ken a call today.
FARM & INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY LTD.
FARM & INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY LTD.
Hwy. 6, 3 km south of Hwy. 401
North of Hamilton, South of Guelph
Puslinch 519-837-0710
www.bryan'sfarm.com
HOURS OF OPERATION:
Mon. - Fri. 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Sat. 8 a.m. - 12:00 noon (fenced yard - no after hours without appointment)
INV en -titry
WWI el \ MOM el
IMMO Tows
A 4 i
N
50 THE RURAL VOICE
but the last [book] was our publish-
er's idea. Initially we weren't sure if
it was quite our kind of book — it
had neither the expose nor the hist-
orical angle, and we didn't want to
do a travelogue," Griffiths said.
"We started with fewer leads than
any other book, only having a
handful. But I think it's the nature of
the land that we just get passed along
from one person to another. This
time we followed our noses."
And it certainly isn't just a
travelogue. Working the Land, which
took about 18 months to write, is
incredibly detailed, with characters
and places that transport the reader to
each situation. It's carefully edited,
clean copy, with each word precisely
placed for an easily digested read.
Cruise and Griffiths set the stage at
the beginning of each chapter, laying
out a lush description of the
landscape they are about to explore,
and then delve into the inhabitants
and their idiosyncrasies. They
succeed in capturing the essence of
the individuals, which makes for
quite humourous stories.
In fact, the audience can feel how
the authors find themselves captured
by our land, its subtle nuances, the
blatant obstacles, its secret and most
definitely its pull:
"Even dour farmers, still grouchy
after being cheated out of their
second hay cut by rain that refused to
come until too late, then came in
torrents, find something good to say
about the morning and the land that
has held them willing prisopers since
the day they took up arms in their
battle with nature. They all could
have done something else, they will
assure you of that. But you can see
the lie in their eyes. There was only
ever the land."
Alison Griffiths and David Cruise
live on a small farm just outside
Milton, with their two daughters,
Quinn and Claudia, and a menagerie
of animals. They have won numerous
writing awards and were recently
honoured with the Atkinson
Fellowship in Public Policy.0
Working the Land, David Cruise and
Alison Griffiths, Viking/Penguin
Canada, Toronto, 1999, 350 pages,
hard -cover, $35.