I thought this book was wonderful. Being a self-appointed "foodie", I was drawn to this books cover which had pictures of several cloves of garlic. I'm always cooking with garlic so I immediately had to flip through the pages of this book. The book appeared to be a memoir. It also had recipes at the end as well as a list or Resources, and Suggested Reading. I bought the book.

Chester Aaron, author of this book, is a writer and teacher who didn't begin growing garlic until he was in his 60's. His choice of garlic species, oddly enough was highly influenced by his dead parents - his dad who came from Georgia (of the U.S.S.R) and his mom who was from Transylvania (Hungary).

The story of his garlic-growing years is sweet (There's a lot about family, colleagues, neighbors, and friends), educational (Who knew there were so many speciesof garlic, hardly any of which are available in American stores?), and humorous (This guy is funny!). I especially loved the ending and wish the author much success for the terrific book he wrote. I'll be looking for the garlic species he mentioned and will probably save this book so I can use his recipes if I indeed find those species of garlic.

On a very happy note, I'm proud to say that the CSA (community supported agriculture) to which I belong provides me (in season) with hardneck garlic. Hooray!! ( )