Pulling Down the Barn

Blending artful language and style with the dirt, blood, and sweat of farm life, this collection of essays tells a moving story of growing up in rural Michigan.Pulling Down the Barn eloquently recalls author Anne-Marie Oomen s personal journey as she discovers herself an outsider on her family farm located in western Michigan s Oceana County, in the township of Elbridge a couple hundred acres in the middle of rural America. Written as a series of heartfelt interlocking narratives, this collection of essays portrays the realities of farm life: haying, picking asparagus and cherries, the machinery of tractors and pickers; but each chapter also touches upon the more ethereal and rarely articulated: the stoic love that permeates a family, the farmer s struggle with identity, and the way land can shape a childhood. With its rich language and style, Pulling Down the Barn engrosses the reader in Oomen s memories setting beauty and wonder against work and loss and paints a poignant portrait of growing up in rural Michigan.