Voices from the Farm: Adventures in Community Living

by Rupert Fike

Book Overview

Twenty - five years ago, at the height of the counter - culture movement, several hundred hippies drove their school buses into southern Tennessee and founded America's largest, modern - day... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570672881
• ISBN13: 9781570672880
• Release Date: June 2012
• Publisher: Book Publishing Company (TN)
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

LOVE The Farm!

Brought back warm memories of my brief stay at The Farm in the late 70's. Wonderful place, people, and philosophy. Often wished I'd decided to take up residence there! A great little book, quick read. Peace, Love & Blessings to y'all! (Write on, Rupert!)

If you are looking into starting or joining a commune, this book is for you.

This book contains true accounts from former residents of probably the best known intentional community, The Farm. This book can show the reader how to make a commune successful, as well as what things to avoid. It is funny at times and very interesting and educational. Take notes!

Intense memoir told in brief segments by former members of The Farm

This book gave me a glimpse at life on The Farm, as described by people who'd actually lived there. While no book can EVER be a substitute for the daily reality of living on the land, trying to build a community, take care of children, raise food and get through cold winters, reading this book was still a very powerful experience. It made me think about my spiritual values and what it must have been like for those who were trying to live with a commitment to living gently on the earth, not hurting wild creatures, not using leather. I appreciated the honesty as well - as varous people would talk of giving into corruption and sneaking Dr. Pepper soda on a trip to town and other acts that went against general group values. Some of these values, of course were not overtly stated...but most were understood. Others were in a state of transition. Ultimately, the Farm broke up but this book is a powerfl reminder of all that was good about it and of the yearning for finding new ways of building stronger community lives. I have no way of knowing for sure, but I have a feeling many members of The Farm continue to live with similar values as they had back then, when they were simply thought of as crazy "hippies".

An Experiment in Spiritual Community

I liked this book, in part because it consists of a number of short essays about various things that occurred with/in The Farm. The authors wrote about events in which they were direct participants, besides things of which they had knowledge from others. This gives an additional layer of authenticity and the feel of reliable reportage. The Farm was an ambitious undertaking, to say the least; not only did its members originally live in a purely communist state--for spiritual reasons--but they also undertook to change the world around them. They undoubtedly helped a lot of people, often at considerable personal cost to themselves. I'm impressed, and hope things turned out well for each of the people who provided medical care, free ambulance service (in the Bronx!), and helped people in Guatemala by building homes and creating a community soymilk industry. This contrasts well with the US government's "aid" to the terrorizing military that daily "disappeared" peasants from the communities where Farm volunteers were working. The Farm is still a going concern today, but the telling event will be when its originating leader, Stephen Gaskin, passes from the scene. If it can endure long after his demise, it will have proven a viable undertaking; if not, then it will enter the rolls of intentional communities that existed for a time, then were overcome by history. Whatever the outcome, it will not have been wasted, for acts of love are never futile.

Excellent perspective on communal living and human nature

Ironically, I grew up in a small town close to The Farm, but never knew much about it. A friend asked me about it, and when forced to confront my ignorance on the subject I purchased the book to correct that shortcoming. Little did I know how much I was about to be entertained! Voices from The Farm is written--as a book on the communal living experience should be--by a number of the folks who participated. It is a collection of stories that together summarize the experience of the members, and the life-cycle of the community. The Farm and its various off-shoots accomplished some great humanitarian feats in the face of the suspicion and prejudice of its neighbors. Winning over those neighbors provides some of the most entertaining tales in the book. However, the biggest obstacles seem--as with human society in general--to be rooted in the human nature of the members of The Farm community. This book is a great, entertaining collection of stories that together tell the tale of a marvelous exercise in social science and community economics. Excellent work by the editors in preserving, selecting, and arranging the individual contributions to tell the story of The Farm.