Heaven and Earth: The Last Farmers of the North Fork

by Steve Wick

Book Overview

With a haunting cinematic quality, Heaven and Earth is a documentary record in prose and photographs of farming families on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. The book traces the Sisyphean... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312143524
• ISBN13: 9780312143527
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 209 Pages
• Weight: 1.89 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 7.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

A Tribute to American History

I should preface my favorable review of this book by saying that I am biased because I grew up on a North Fork potato farm. While I now live and work in Manhattan, I must confess I was saddened to realize that Steve Wick's characterization of the North Fork potato farming community at the end of the 20th century was correct. To a very large extent, four centuries of farming on Long Island has now come to an end. The positive spin of course is that creative destruction is the lifeblood of the American economy. Having said that, perhaps there is value in the preservation of the past? My family gave up on potatoes in the early 1990's, a few years before Mr. Wick penned this elegant tome. It pays homage to those who defied the iron will of the markets because of tradition, family, and an unflinching belief in the beauty of the Land.

an excellent piece of work

as beautiful as it is profound. this book offers keen insights into the plight of the modern-day farmer as urban American encroaches upon his dwindling domain

A fascinating history of a bygone era

Steve Wick captures history as an eyewitness and spins a heart touching tal

Makes me want to leave the city and back to the country

I could smell the dirt between the pages, feel the young spuds piling up as each chapter ended. This guy knows about farms, about life and about writing