Reviews of “Trauma Farm”
 Trauma Farm“Luxurious prose, striking imagery, and a sampling of his poems add to the tone and flavour of his book, thus making it eminently deserving of the 2010 Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award (BC Book Prizes).” SubTerrain, Sep 1, 2010 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“Brett neither champions the rural, pastoral clichés nor flinches in the face of the brutality of the natural world. Instead, he simply offers a deeply personal meditation on life on his small mixed farm...he leads the reader on a joyful, shocking, funny and absurdist journey that revels in the beauty of the smallest events.” Canadian Geographic, Jun 1, 2010 Read more >>Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“Brett successfully maintains a delicate balance between broader, abstract issues: the global and historic context, and personal anecdote: the concrete, day-to-day details of operating a small farm on Saltspring Island, BC." Geist, Apr 1, 2010 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm"Brett's wit and giddy ambivalence makes this account a stretch more provocative than similar rural memoirs, and an altogether compelling read" Publishers Weekly, Nov 29, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“Brett's book is a memoir about tending his small farm over 18 years on Saltspring. Tales of his life are interwoven with observations about biology and botany. The jury called Brett's book "a lively, well-researched blend of memoir and socio-political commentary; a rare celebration of youth, age and the tumultuous, surprising journey between them." Victoria critic Robert J. Wiersma recently wrote that Trauma Farm is "easily one of the finest books of the year." Victoria Times-Colonist, Nov 26, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“In fact, the most difficult thing about getting through the book is that it often induces an earthquake-like rumbling in your stomach… Some sections can cause one to loose their appetite, especially bits about what goes on in a factory farm, traditional slaughter and other bits of gore that go hand in hand with life on the farm. But Brett always brings you back to the dinner table with, for example, stories of a group of brothers nearby who used to hold all-day breakfast feasts. And between the food and politics Brett, ever the poet, meditates on life’s little pleasures, like swimming at the local pond, resting after a hard day’s work and passing time with friends. Trauma Farm is best summed up by a line from near the end, in a chapter on death’s necessary role in life on the farm: ‘Animals talk, they die, they’re born, they die again, until all the stories fold into a long summer’s day of memories.’” Yukon News, Nov 20, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“The work was hard, the pay was lousy, it was utter chaos, and I loved it. Brett would call that farming. Trauma Farm: A Rebel History of Rural Life is a memoir and a natural history of small farms, rural life, biology, barnyards and botany set on an 18-year-long day. It begins and ends with Brett biblically and literally naked in the dark in the garden and poetically zigzags through time and place.” The Tyee, Nov 19, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“You can taste the food he describes, feel the cool morning air on naked skin, smell the dogs and feel the mud. Brett reads almost as an invitation, a provocation, to make the natural, rooted, harmonious existence our own in whatever small ways we can.” Montreal Gazette, Nov 14, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm“In many ways, I felt like reading this book was like having a cup of tea with Brett. The book includes tangents, and personal anecdotes, but reading it was like having a long, rambling conversation with a friend. There were incidents in the book which were sad, and other incidents which made me laugh or smile with their outlandishness.” Grande Prairie Ink, Oct 26, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |
Trauma Farm"In this gloriously detailed memoir, Brett brings us into life on his small working farm on Saltspring Island. A gorgeously thoughtful meditation on the natural world." Vancouver Sun, Oct 26, 2009 Read more about Trauma Farm >> |