Rating: 
Summary: Best book about farming I've ever read
Review: "Epitaph" is a gem and a masterpiece. Masumoto is a good farmer, a truly dedicated family man and a gifted writer. The story is in part about his love affair with a wonderful variety of peach. City people will know why supermarket peaches disappoint and country people will recognize the sad story of a farmer who, the harder he tries the more frustration he finds. The peaches you find in the supermarket are there because the consumer/supermarket/broker/ value "shelf life" more than flavor. Peaches don't travel well and they don't last long. The farmer must choose the right variety, prune it exactly the right way at exactly the right time, fertilize and water at the right time, pray fervently for the right weather conditions. Only then, if the peach absorbs enough sun to fully mature, will it have the full bursting ambrosial flavor a peach should have. Only the sun can make a peach sweet and flavorful. Most really delicious peaches won't last more than three or four days after they are picked. A good peach should be eaten as it is right out of hand. Not put in a pie or jam or cake. Only a good farmer can grow a perfect peach and no supermarket want them. Where is the answer? You'll fall in love with farming and weep a bit as you read the Masumoto family story. Perhaps you won't fully appreciate what today's farmers are up against, but this book will give you more insight than you ever had before. If you are from a farming family you will fully appreciate every word of this beautiful story of a San Joaquin Valley farm.
Rating:
Summary: Best book about farming I've ever read
Review: "Epitaph" is a gem and a masterpiece. Masumoto is a good farmer, a truly dedicated family man and a gifted writer. The story is in part about his love affair with a wonderful variety of peach. City people will know why supermarket peaches disappoint and country people will recognize the sad story of a farmer who, the harder he tries the more frustration he finds. The peaches you find in the supermarket are there because the consumer/supermarket/broker/ value "shelf life" more than flavor. Peaches don't travel well and they don't last long. The farmer must choose the right variety, prune it exactly the right way at exactly the right time, fertilize and water at the right time, pray fervently for the right weather conditions. Only then, if the peach absorbs enough sun to fully mature, will it have the full bursting ambrosial flavor a peach should have. Only the sun can make a peach sweet and flavorful. Most really delicious peaches won't last more than three or four days after they are picked. A good peach should be eaten as it is right out of hand. Not put in a pie or jam or cake. Only a good farmer can grow a perfect peach and no supermarket want them. Where is the answer? You'll fall in love with farming and weep a bit as you read the Masumoto family story. Perhaps you won't fully appreciate what today's farmers are up against, but this book will give you more insight than you ever had before. If you are from a farming family you will fully appreciate every word of this beautiful story of a San Joaquin Valley farm.
Rating: 
Summary: characterized by quiet appreciation for the lessons of natur
Review: An exceptional story which weaves the tale of saving a peach variety overlayed with a respect for family, nature, and the lessons -- both physical and philospohical which nature teaches.
Transcends the merely physical and casts the reader, along with the authoer, into the consideration of the place of mankind on the planet.
Masumoto quietly provides a canvas for consideration of issues which face all of us -- farmers, city dwellers, and just those of us who exist. Somewhat in the tradition of Dillard (Annie) and Hawthorne (Alice Deming).
Rating:
Summary: LAMENTATIONS FOR A PEACH
Review: Death is destined to come to all of creation. In this case it came to a peach but not just any peach. Sun Crest peaches died not because of their bitter taste or ugly appearance. They were a victim of a market that values a long shelf-life more than taste. They were casualties of the public's need for the red skinned variety of the fruit rather than its golden hue. Sorry, Sun Crest, you are no longer profitable or valued for your sweet and juicy taste. It is time for your demise. With moving eloquence and lyrical prose David Musumoto shares with us the story of his attempts to save a peach whose cultivation was a defining part of his life. David's story is the story of all family farmers struggling to stay alive and afloat in the vast world of the agribusiness. As one who is a resident of the "peach" state and has seen the destruction of its groves and dispersion of family farmers, I can readily identify with the various themes of which David shares. Walk with him through the four seasons where we learn about the preparation of the soil, pruning, watering, caring, harvesting and marketing of the peaches. You find out that farming is hard work that requires faith, patience, experimentation and a tough hide when you experience failure. David interweaves his own personal history of farming through three generations to give us an appreciation of a lifestyle that is deeply embeded in one's soul. As citizens in the 21st century we have some numerous decisions to make. Do we want agribusiness to control our food supply thus limiting our choices or we will support farmers such as David who offer us a product more satisfying? Too often we will go with cheap and quick availability without looking at the whole picture to make room for both agribusiness and small farmers. Which side will we chose? Is an epitaph for a peach in reality an epitaph for the family farm? Think about it as you read this enriching, thoughtful and engaging work.
Rating:
Summary: Poetic pictures
Review: From the openning paragraphs to the final page, this book was throughly enjoyable. Made me realize just what it takes to put food on the table and the lives that family farmers lead.
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully Written, Throughly Enjoyable Read
Review: From the openning paragraphs to the final page, this book was throughly enjoyable. Made me realize just what it takes to put food on the table and the lives that family farmers lead.
Rating:
Summary: Good balance of abstract and practical, great prose
Review: I have lived in the San Joaquin Valley for a little less then 2 years, and currently drive by Del Rey on my daily commute from Reedley to Fresno and back. For the time being, I'm still looking at grapes and peaches rather than subdivisions and scrub. Masumoto's book has helped this refugee from the lands of corn and soybeans and those of wheat and milo start to figure out what's going on in those vineyards and orchards. There are two things I like about this book. The first is the great sense of balance between the ideal and the practical, and abstract versus work-a-day concerns. For instance, the questions such as "do I 'exploit' this worker or leave him unemployed?", and "which is worse, using pesticide, or burning more fossil fuel and smogging up the Valley more with extra tillage?". You know; the kinds of questions that seem straightforward and clear-cut to those whose experience with organic agriculture is buying food at the co-op. The seconds is that Mr. Masumoto's prose doesn't strike me as being nearly as frilly as that of most of his blurb writers. I am reminded of Aldo Leopold or Norman MacLean; guys who can express great vistas and grand ideas with relatively sparse language.
Rating:
Summary: The Struggle Continues
Review: I live somewhat north of the area Mr. Masumoto writes about - where the San Francisco Bay Area Suburbs collide with the San Joaquin Farmlands. The Peach and Cherry Orchards and the Sweet Corn, Tomatoes and Strawberries are currently holding their own - but like Mr. Masumoto's Peaches and Grapes, only tenuously, and with great courage. If you would like to understand not only how these people live, but who and why they are, you should read this book. It is both beautifully written and thought provoking.
Rating:
Summary: The Struggle Continues
Review: It is rare to read a book where the author works miracles with his hands and his words. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys non-fiction but finds it dry, without humanity. David Mas Masumoto is anything but dry. His land may be at times, but his poetic prose is anything but. His relationship with his family, his family's farm and nature is a rare combination. I highly recommend this read.
Rating:
Summary: Epitaph for a Peach
Review: It is rare to read a book where the author works miracles with his hands and his words. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys non-fiction but finds it dry, without humanity. David Mas Masumoto is anything but dry. His land may be at times, but his poetic prose is anything but. His relationship with his family, his family's farm and nature is a rare combination. I highly recommend this read.
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