The Year of the Goat

Margaret Hathaway and her future husband, Karl Schatz, were citified New Yorkers who dreamed of a life in the country — ”in a many-roomed old house with a wide porch and a big garden.” But how would they pay for it? Inspired by Ronnybrook Farm Dairy, the pair decide to raise goats. First, they embark on a 40,000-mile odyssey, visiting goat farmers and cheese makers in 43 states. Hathaway’s descriptions of the various characters they meet — both human and goat — are funny and vivid, though occasionally overlong. The Year of the Goat is for anyone who’s ever imagined going back in time to a simpler life — or anyone who loves cheese. B+