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Rating: 
Summary: The Grand Farmer
Review: The 1920's through the 1940's were prime time for literature and the most popular authors of this period included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and Louis Bromfield. Louis who? Although Mr. Bromfield's novels never earned the long-term respect that was anointed on authors as Steinbeck or Hemingway, his story is as interesting as that of any author who lived during the twentieth century. He was one of the group of writers whose skills were honed in France in the roaring 20's (like Hemingway, he served as an ambulance drive in World War 1). He enjoyed critical and considerable financial success as a novelist. He won the Pulitzer at a young age for the novel Early Autumn. Several of his novels were adapted for the big screen. He was an adventurer, world traveler, pal to the rich and famous. But in the midst of this success, deep down he longed to return to the farmland near where he grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. A farmer at heart, he became one of America's most influential and revered conservationists after he founded Malabar Farm near Mansfield. After his death, the farm and the "Big House" ' a marvelous home if ever there was one ' were purchased by the state of Ohio and remain one of the state's most popular tourist attractions. Mr. Bromfield was hardly the stereotype of a farmer. While he loved to get his boots as muddy as any sodbuster, he also maintained the grand social lifestyle that he and his wife Mary had cultivated in France. The "Big House" was constantly filled with thirty or more guests. At any one time, it would host movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who were married at the house), New York Socialites, writers as E.B. White and Inez Robb, farmers from overseas, and of course the children and a platoon of slobbering Boxers. Mr. Bromfield loved to be surrounded by compelling and conversational people almost as much as he enjoyed being surrounded by the lush and bountiful fields of Malabar Farm. Both fed him. It was a life was well lived, and his loving daughter does a fine job of capturing the mystique, the paradox and, yes, the weaknesses of her larger than life dad. Louis who? If you don't know, you'll be better for finding out through this eloquent, entertaining and insightful memoir by Mrs. Geld.
Rating:
Summary: The Grand Farmer
Review: The 1920�s through the 1940�s were prime time for literature and the most popular authors of this period included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Steinbeck and Louis Bromfield. Louis who? Although Mr. Bromfield�s novels never earned the long-term respect that was anointed on authors as Steinbeck or Hemingway, his story is as interesting as that of any author who lived during the twentieth century. He was one of the group of writers whose skills were honed in France in the roaring 20�s (like Hemingway, he served as an ambulance drive in World War 1). He enjoyed critical and considerable financial success as a novelist. He won the Pulitzer at a young age for the novel Early Autumn. Several of his novels were adapted for the big screen. He was an adventurer, world traveler, pal to the rich and famous. But in the midst of this success, deep down he longed to return to the farmland near where he grew up in Mansfield, Ohio. A farmer at heart, he became one of America�s most influential and revered conservationists after he founded Malabar Farm near Mansfield. After his death, the farm and the "Big House" � a marvelous home if ever there was one � were purchased by the state of Ohio and remain one of the state�s most popular tourist attractions. Mr. Bromfield was hardly the stereotype of a farmer. While he loved to get his boots as muddy as any sodbuster, he also maintained the grand social lifestyle that he and his wife Mary had cultivated in France. The "Big House" was constantly filled with thirty or more guests. At any one time, it would host movie stars such as Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall (who were married at the house), New York Socialites, writers as E.B. White and Inez Robb, farmers from overseas, and of course the children and a platoon of slobbering Boxers. Mr. Bromfield loved to be surrounded by compelling and conversational people almost as much as he enjoyed being surrounded by the lush and bountiful fields of Malabar Farm. Both fed him. It was a life was well lived, and his loving daughter does a fine job of capturing the mystique, the paradox and, yes, the weaknesses of her larger than life dad. Louis who? If you don�t know, you�ll be better for finding out through this eloquent, entertaining and insightful memoir by Mrs. Geld.
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