
My Wild Garden
Notes from a Writer's Eden
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
About this listen
On the perimeter of Israel's Jezreel Valley, with the Carmel mountains rising up in the west, Meir Shalev has a beloved garden, "neither neatly organized nor well kept", as he cheerfully explains. Often covered in mud and scrapes, Shalev cultivates both nomadic plants and "house dwellers", using his own quirky techniques. He extolls the virtues of the lemon tree, rescues a precious variety of purple snapdragon from the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway, and does battle with a saboteur mole rat. He even gives us his superior private recipe for curing olives.
Informed by Shalev's literary sensibility, his sometime riotous humor, and his deep curiosity about the land, My Wild Garden abounds with appreciation for the joy of living, quite literally, on Earth. Our borrowed time on any particular patch of it is enhanced, the author reminds us, by our honest, respectful dealings with all manner of beings who inhabit it with us.
Jacket art by Refaella Shir
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Critic reviews
"A nurturer of plants who is careful not to waste even a single seed and mourns the death of a tree, Shalev is a lyrical stylist and philosopher who writes with passion and humor. Drawings by Shir enhance the text." (Sue O’Brien, Library Journal)
"Charming musings on the 'moments of bliss' found in the garden...in which gardening teaches perspective and the rewards of hard work.... Rests on solid botanical knowledge but is never heavy-handed." (Kirkus Reviews)
What listeners say about My Wild Garden
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- micky marinelli
- 07-15-23
A true delight- both the content and the manner in which it is read
Read BEAUTIFULLY, this is a delightful story of Shalev’s wild garden- and thinking process really. At first I wondered how one can write so many chapters about a garden- but as each chapter unfolded, it became clear that this is so much more than a book on plants. It’s a book showing Shalev’s inner thinking and values, and about life and it’s cycles. A true delight
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- Bonnie J Bird
- 01-12-22
feel good book
listen with your heart...i hope meir shalev writes more books as enjoyable as this one.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-05-24
Gentle but Powerful
This book wasn’t what I expected it to be and if you enjoy a read with lots of symbolism, metaphors, and a touch of spirituality you will find joy in these pages :)
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