GIVEAWAY ENDEDTHE BUCOLIC PLAGUE
How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers:
An Unconventional Memoir
BY JOSH KILMER-PURCELL
What happens when two New Yorkers (one an ex–drag queen) do the unthinkable: start over, have a herd of kids, and get a little dirty?
Find out in this riotous and moving true tale of goats, mud, and a centuries-old mansion in rustic upstate New York—the new memoir by Josh Kilmer-Purcell, author of the New York Times bestseller I Am Not Myself These Days. A happy series of accidents and a doughnut-laden escape upstate take Josh and his partner, Brent, to the doorstep of the magnificent (and fabulously for sale) Beekman Mansion. One hour and one tour later, they have begun their transformation from uptight urbanites into the two-hundred-year-old-mansion-owning Beekman Boys.
Suddenly, Josh—a full-time New Yorker with a successful advertising career—and Brent are weekend farmers, surrounded by nature's bounty and an eclectic cast: roosters who double as a wedding cover band; Bubby, the bionic cat; and a herd of eighty-eight goats, courtesy of their new caretaker, Farmer John. And soon, a fledgling business, born of a gift of handmade goat-milk soap, blossoms into a brand, Beekman 1802.
The Bucolic Plague is tart and sweet, touching and laugh out loud funny, a story about approaching middle age, being in a long-term relationship, realizing the city no longer feeds you in the same way it used to, and finding new depths of love and commitment wherever you live.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Josh Kilmer-Purcell is the bestselling author of the memoir I Am Not Myself These Days and the novel Candy Everybody Wants, and the star of the television docu-series The Fabulous Beekman Boys. He and his partner, Brent Ridge, divide their time between Manhattan and the Beekman Farm.MY REVIEW:
When Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his partner Dr. Brent Ridge see a beautiful 200-year old farm house on a weekend trip to upstate New York from Manhattan, their imaginations picture weekends of organic gardening, digging in rich dirt, and collecting their own eggs. It appears to be a dream they can make come true with purchase of this “little cottage” in the country. The problem is The Beekman Mansion is no little cottage. In fact, The Beekman MANSION, located in Sharon , New York, was built in 1802, and THE BUCOLIC PLAGUE tells the story of Kilmer-Purcell and Ridge's first two years owning “the Beekman” as it is called.
With dreams of baking bread and gardening and raising their own organic food, they look at their time there as being one simple, stress-free existence, but it turns out quite the opposite. These “gentlemen farmers” did find that at first things did fit the mold of their idyllic dream, but than the title of the book, THE BUCOLIC PLAGUE, by definition is more what it is…something characteristic of country life turned out to be something extremely troublesome. So weekends became filled with repairs, a garden that needed a master horticulturist, a herd of goats, and strangely enough a field full of human bones and remains, added to their new business of handcrafted soaps by mail. Luckily, they had the help of “Farmer John”, who helped these New York City boys turn this Beekman nightmare into their dream. However, the stress of working their regular high pressure city jobs and their dedication to the country dream caused some friction and Josh and Brent had to work through some rough spots to get through it all. THE BUCOLIC PLAGUE is a memoir that gives readers a good time and a chance to enjoy reading about chasing a dream.
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