{"product_id":"country-matters-the-pleasures-and-tribulations-of-moving-from-a-big-city-to-an-old-country-farmhouse-isbn-9780060957483","title":"Country Matters: The Pleasures and Tribulations of Moving from a Big City to an Old Country Farmhouse","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e“Dreaming of moving to the country? First, read Michael Korda’s engaging memoir. City types will find laughter, profit, and fair warning in \u003ci\u003eCountry Matters\u003c\/i\u003e.”\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWith his inimitable sense of humor and storytelling talent, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Michael Korda brings us this charming, hilarious, self-deprecating country living memoir of a city couple's new life in the country.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt once entertaining, canny, and moving, \u003ci\u003eCountry Matters\u003c\/i\u003e does for Dutchess County, New York, what \u003ci\u003eUnder the Tuscan Sun\u003c\/i\u003e did for Tuscany. This witty farm life memoir, replete with Korda's own line drawings, reads like a novel, as it chronicles the author's transformation from city slicker to full-time country gentleman, complete with tractors, horses, and a leaking roof.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen he decides to take up residence in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in Dutchess County, ninety miles north of New York City, Korda discovers what country life is really like:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOwning pigs, more than owning horses, even more than owning the actual house, firmly anchored the Kordas as residents in the eyes of their Pleasant Valley neighbors.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou may own your land, but without concertina barbed wire, or the 82nd Airborne on patrol, it's impossible to keep people off it!\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt's possible to line up major household repairs over a tuna melt sandwich.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe locals are not particularly quick to accept these outsiders, and the couple's earliest interactions with their new neighbors provide constant entertainment in this funny city to country story, particularly when the Kordas discover that hunting season is a year-round event—right on their own land! From their closest neighbors, mostly dairy farmers, to their unforgettable caretaker Harold Roe—whose motto regarding the local flora is \"Whack it all back! \"—the residents of Pleasant Valley eventually come to realize that the Kordas are more than mere weekenders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSure to have readers in stitches, this hilarious memoir is a book that has universal appeal for all who have ever dreamed of owning that perfect little place to escape to up in the country, or, more boldly, have done it.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eWith his inimitable sense of humor and storytelling talent, \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestselling author Michael Korda brings us this charming, hilarious, self-deprecating memoir of a city couple's new life in the country.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAt once entertaining, canny, and moving, \u003cem\u003eCountry Matters\u003c\/em\u003e does for Dutchess County, New York, what \u003cem\u003eUnder the Tuscan Sun\u003c\/em\u003e did for Tuscany. This witty memoir, replete with Korda's own line drawings, reads like a novel, as it chronicles the author's transformation from city slicker to full-time country gentleman, complete with tractors, horses, and a leaking roof.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen he decides to take up residence in an eighteenth-century farmhouse in Dutchess County, ninety miles north of New York City, Korda discovers what country life is really like:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul type=\"DISC\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOwning pigs, more than owning horses, even more than owning the actual house, firmly anchored the Kordas as residents in the eyes of their Pleasant Valley neighbors. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou may own your land, but without concertina barbed wire, or the 82nd Airborne on patrol, it's impossible to keep people off it! \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIt's possible to line up major household repairs over a tuna melt sandwich. \u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnd everyone in the area is fully aware that Michael \"don't know shit about septics.\"\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe locals are not particularly quick to accept these outsiders, and the couple's earliest interactions with their new neighbors provide constant entertainment, particularly when the Kordas discover that hunting season is a year-round event -- right on their own land! From their closest neighbors, mostly dairy farmers, to their unforgettable caretaker Harold Roe -- whose motto regarding the local flora is \"Whack it all back! \" -- the residents of Pleasant Valley eventually come to realize that the Kordas are more than mere weekenders.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSure to have readers in stitches, this is a book that has universal appeal for all who have ever dreamed of owning that perfect little place to escape to up in the country, or, more boldly, have done it.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"The New York population growth will certainly diminish after Michael Korda's new book appears in bookstores. But despite the love hate transplanted New Yorkers feel for the countryside, after a short time love wins out. [\u003cem\u003eCountry Matters\u003c\/em\u003e] will become a much loved American classic for everyone.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBill Blass, designer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Why travel to Provence when smart pigs and charming eccentrics abound right here in rural America? Michael Korda, that sly anthropologist, serves up the humor and the humanity he's found living in the country, and reveals himself and his Margaret to be charming eccentrics themselves (not that that's news to his friends.)\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRichard Rhodes\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Korda addresses a hackneyed theme and gives it a fresh flip. His nostalgia and affection for country life make his reminiscence a pleasure to read.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eRichmond Times-Dispatch\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Dreaming of moving to the country? First, read Michael Korda’s engaging memoir. City types will find laughter, profit, and fair warning in \u003cem\u003eCountry Matters\u003c\/em\u003e.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Korda's search for a rural paradise is easy, often hilarious, reading.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMaxine Kumin, New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Korda brings a foreigner's eye to his surroundings...the overall effect is charming and ofttimes witty.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Brilliantly mapping the territory between fantasy and reality, Michael Korda’s hiliariously funny book is a guide to everything from weighing a pig and mollifying a plumber to dealing with unpredictable weather and breathtaking, surprising beauty.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSusan Cheever, author of AS GOOD AS I COULD BE\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44887504290021,"sku":"NP9780060957483","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780060957483.jpg?v=1730226248","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/country-matters-the-pleasures-and-tribulations-of-moving-from-a-big-city-to-an-old-country-farmhouse-isbn-9780060957483","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}