Goat Song by Brad Kessler

What you never knew about goats - Goat Song by Brad Kessler

I have just finished reading the most sexually explicit book I have ever read. Usually if a book becomes too sexually graphic I don’t continue – call me a prude, but I am much more comfortable with “under the covers” sex in novels, I don’t need all the details. The sex in the early pages of this book is goat sex. Sex between goats for the purpose of reproduction, with the resulting milk used by the author, Brad Kessler, to make goat cheese.

Why was I reading this book? Not because I have any interest in goats, though I do love goat cheese – but because it was written by Brad Kessler. One of my all time favourite novels is Birds in Fall written in 2006 by the unknown Brad Kessler. He is still mostly unknown although I recommend Birds in Fall to anyone looking for a great novel. You can find a review on our website at www.parrysoundbooks.com.

Goat Song, sub-titled A Seasonal Life, A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese turns out to be a very readable, very interesting book, whether or not you have any interest in raising goats for any reason.

After several years of Manhattan living Brad Kessler and his wife were looking for a new life in the country. They finally found the perfect place in a valley in the mountains of Vermont. There they build a life in tune with the seasons and the lives of the goats they begin to raise. If you have any thoughts about raising goats this book is the perfect primer. Brad and Dona learn on the job – and it is serious work to raise and care for even a few goats. They must be housed and fed and cared for and milked and protected from coyotes – they are a very full time job. But this couple loves it – the relationship that they develop with their goats becomes the centre of their lives.

There is much discussion about the benefits of a diet including unpasteurized goat milk and cheese as it relates to allergies. There is detailed information about making cheese. After a year of self taught cheese making Brad Kessler goes off to France to learn from an expert. On his return he builds a more professional cheese making room, increases his herd and considers turning his full-time hobby into a full-time profession.

Overall this is the story of a couple who followed their hearts, worked hard and made their dream a reality – and it is so lovely to read it really doesn’t matter if you care about goats, and or sex, or not!