by Zachary Michael Jack, University of South Carolina Press, 2005. 312 pages.
reviewed by Kathleen D. Kelsey

Reading Black Earth and Ivory Tower reminds me of why I’m an academic and a hobby gardener and not a full-time farmer. In-between reading the 32 expertly written short essays, I pluck redbud seedlings out of my herb beds. As an academic I love to read, ponder, and write. As a farmer’s daughter, I also love to dig my hands into the soil, to move the earth and watch the earthworms escape my capture, occasionally finding a baby snake under a rock. Having agreed to complete a book review, I discipline myself to read yet another essay before wondering into the garden, where I would rather be on this lazy Sunday afternoon. Such are the tensions and passions present in Black Earth and Ivory Tower.

Many of the essays contain the high pitch of nostalgia for days gone by on the farm when woman, man, and child worked at the noble vocation of food and fiber production in a holistic and value-conscious sub-culture. The essays also pay tribute to the mean reality of living at the whim of nature–which provides little time for children to engage in the arts and literature.

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