Scan barcode
A review by knitter22
One Man's Meat by E.B. White
5.0
If ever I was to meet my soul-mate in book form, I believe it would be E.B. White's One Man's Meat. While reading this collection of his essays written between 1938 and 1943, I was continually struck by how White's personal recountings of his daily life and thoughts could be so applicable to me, a 59-year-old woman living her life 70 plus years later. White writes with thoughtfulness, insight, wit, and humor about roofing his barn while war looms, bringing a cow home after his personal probationary period practicing on sheep, and the bittersweet experience of taking his son to fish at the lake where he had fished with his own father.
His essays aren't just personal musings; White also intertwines world politics and the dreadful feelings of fear leading up to World War II. He is one of the very few authors I have read that can combine both the internal personal and the world outside with his spare, honest writing and perfect word choices. In addition to the painful reminders of dark times such as "I keep forgetting that soldiers are so young," there are also delightfully prescient glimpses into the possible beginnings of Charlotte's Web with White's observations about rats, geese, and runt piglets. One Man's Meat is poignant, reasonable, clear, and one of the best books I have ever read.
His essays aren't just personal musings; White also intertwines world politics and the dreadful feelings of fear leading up to World War II. He is one of the very few authors I have read that can combine both the internal personal and the world outside with his spare, honest writing and perfect word choices. In addition to the painful reminders of dark times such as "I keep forgetting that soldiers are so young," there are also delightfully prescient glimpses into the possible beginnings of Charlotte's Web with White's observations about rats, geese, and runt piglets. One Man's Meat is poignant, reasonable, clear, and one of the best books I have ever read.