forthcoming book: Cat Woman in Dog Country
Welcome to life on a semi-urban mini-farm in the northern-half of the American South
If you’re still reading, something about all this hyphenation must appeal to you, the middle-of-it-all-ness and everything-is-connectedness that characterizes so much environmental writing. My book, Cat Woman in Dog Country, forthcoming with University of Alabama Press March 2027, chronicles four seasons of life on this very tiny mini-farm in fifty-two short chapters.
Cat Woman in Dog Country is as much a literary how-not-to grow things as a guide to the symbiotic wonders of figs and wasps and chicken politics. It’s the story of learning the differences between teaching Walden and growing my own beans, among other things, with my son, half a dozen chickens, and a truly terrifying number of rats and copperheads. Along the way I consider the immediate, material problems of living with forever chemicals, rising temperatures, cycles of flood and drought, and their relation to existential questions of place: the personal, social, and planetary problem of the meaning of home.
You’ll learn about how figs go from here…
…to here, covering your entire kitchen.
Then your entire life.
Here’s what nice people, people I haven’t paid and to whom I’m not related, are saying about the book:
“In the tradition of E. B. White and Verlyn Klinkenborg, Helena Feder’s delightful book about small farm life is distinguished by its humor, ranging from wry wit to farce, and by its close attention to the adventures and discoveries of raising crops and maintaining an orchard … Feder shows that modern life can still be a hilarious epic.” —Kim Stanley Robinson, author of The High Sierra: A Love Story
“This is a very funny book, and quite true also.” —Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization
“Wry, tender, and quietly subversive, Cat Woman in Dog Country is a delightfully erudite memoir that wears its learning lightly. Helena Feder’s prose is sharp and fresh, whether she’s observing her own foibles or the world around her, and her stories shimmer with humor, intelligence, and hard‑won grace. This is a keenly observed, beautifully crafted book about what it means to be out of place and fully alive.” —Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, author of The Mattering Instinct
“With an enchanting mix of wit, literary sensibility and attention to the profound, Cat Woman in Dog Country chronicles the joys and tribulations of building a life at the rural edge of suburbia. Whether she’s clambering up trees to pick figs, tending a flock of characterful hens, or dealing with a temperamental septic tank, Feder has a gift for making each moment resonate with meaning and laughter. This book is a welcome tonic for our times.” —James Barilla, author of Naturebot: Unconventional Visions of Nature
If you enjoy a good laugh, or find yourself overcome with an impulse to help a total stranger buy a new septic tank, consider purchasing this very reasonably priced book.
When the book is for sale in March 2027, a button will magically appear here.
Thanks.