When Jeffrey Greene, a prizewinning American poet, and Mary, his wife-to-be, a molecular biologist at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, discover a moss-covered stone presbytery in a lovely village in the Puisaye region of Burgundy, they know they have to live there. With an unabashed joie de vivre, they begin the arduous process of procuring their slice of paradise amid the wild beauty of the French countryside -- a place of gentle farmlands and dense forests, of rivers and lakes, of stunning fields bursting with the color and heady scent of wildflowers.
French Spirits is the magical tale of their odyssey to become not just homeowners but Burgundians. In lush, lyrical prose, Greene recalls their experiences turning the three-hundred-year-old stone building -- a "château in miniature," which the locals believe houses numerous spirits--into a habitable refuge. He brings to life their adventures in finding wonderful bargains with which to furnish their new space, including a firm mattress and some rather suspicious "antiques" bought from the back of a van.
Greene offers the unexpected joys and surprises of village life, from celebrating his and Mary's simple backyard wedding to discovering summer fêtes from toiling in a verdant garden to trading insights with new neighbors. He shares the experience of surviving his mother's decision to move in and humorously introduces the locals -- both human and nonhuman -- who define his and Mary's new world. Woven throughout this luscious tale are the pleasures of rural France: wondrous food and wine, long-held rituals and feasts, dark superstitions and deeply rooted history. A memorable feast for the senses, French Spirits will entertain and enlighten all who succumb to its charms.

French Spirits: A House, a Village, and a Love Affair in Burgundy

Greene, Jeffrey

Humor & Entertainment

William Morrow

When Jeffrey Greene, a prize-winning American poet, and Mary, a molecular biologist and his wife-to-be, discover a moss-covered stone presbytery in a lovely village in the Puisaye region of Burgundy, they know they have to live there. In lush, lyrical prose, Greene recalls their experiences turning the 300-year-old stone building - a "chÂteau in miniature" that the locals believe houses numerous spirits-into a habitable refuge. He brings to life their adventures in finding wonderful bargains with which to furnish their new space, including a firm mattress and some rather suspicious antiques" bought from the back of a van. Greene offers the unexpected joys and surprises of village life, from celebrating his and Mary's simple backyard wedding to toiling in a verdant garden. He shares the experience of surviving his mother's decision to move in and humorously introduces the locals - both human and nonhuman - who define his and Mary's new world. Woven throughout this luscious tale are the pleasures of rural France: wondrous food and wine, long-held rituals and feasts, dark superstitions, and deeply rooted history.

William Morrow Paperbacks

Based on the recent avian flu outbreaks that have emerged into human populations, the World Health Organization now warns us that bird flu--if mutated into a supercontagious pandemic form--could visit millions of homes within two years. The Bird Flu Pandemic provides definitive answers to the questions on all our minds: - Should we be getting reading for a world catastrophe, and if so, what should we be doing?- Will masks help?- Should we feed our kids poultry?- Will we be able to go to work?- Will we be able to leave the house?- What about pets?- Just how bad could this get? Dr. Greene knows exactly what we need to do to keep our families safe, sane, and secure in the face of what is potentially an unprecedented and life-threatening worldwide scourge.

The Bird Flu Pandemic: Can It Happen? Will It Happen? How to Protect Yourself and Your Family If It Does

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Moline, Karen

Diseases & Physical Ailments

St. Martin's: Griffin

French Spirits

Bantam Books (Transworld Publishers a division of the Random House Group)

The wild boar appears to us as something straight out of a myth. But as Jeffrey Greene learned, these creatures are very real, living by night and, despite shrinking habitats and hordes of hunters, thriving on six continents. 
Greene purchased an eighteenth-century presbytery in a region of ponds and forests in northern Burgundy between the Loire and Seine Rivers of France. He soon discovered he’d moved to one of the most densely populated boar areas in Europe. Following the gift of a side of boar from a neighbor, and a dramatic early-morning encounter with a boar-hunting party and its prey, Greene became fascinated with the animal and immersed himself in the legend and the reality of the wild boar. 
Although it has no natural enemies, the boar is in constant conflict with humans. Most societies consider it a pest, not only wreaking havoc on crops and livestock, but destroying golf-course greens in search of worms, even creating a hazard for drivers (hogs on the roads cause over 14,000 car accidents a year in France). It has also been the object of highly ritualized hunts, dating back to classical times.
The animal’s remarkable appearance--it can grow larger than a person, and the males sport prominent tusks, called "whetters" and "cutters"--has inspired artists for centuries; its depictions range from primitive masks to works of high art such as Pietro Tacca’s Porcellino and paintings by Velázquez and Frans Snyders. The boar also plays a unique role in myth, appearing in the stories of Hercules and Adonis as well as in the folktale Beauty and the Beast. 
The author’s search for the elusive animal takes him to Sardinia, Corsica, and Tuscany; he even casts an eye to the American South, where he explores the boar’s feral-pig counterparts and descendents. He introduces us to a fascinating cast of experts, from museum curators and scientists to hunters and chefs (who share their recipes) to the inhabitants of chateaux who have lived in the same ancient countryside with generations of boars. They are all part of a journey filled with wonders and discoveries about these majestic animals the poet Robinson Jeffers called "beautiful monsters."

The Golden-Bristled Boar: Last Ferocious Beast of the Forest

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

University of Virginia Press

Today we care about the source of our food as much as the preparation, so it is no surprise that foodies have discovered wild edibles. From the most upscale restaurants in New York to humble farm stays in Europe, chefs and restaurant-goers alike are seeking pleasure in food found in the wild.
 In Pursuit of Wild Edibles: A Forager’s Tour tells the story of one man passionate about finding wild edibles and creating recipes to highlight their unique flavors. An American expatriate, poet, and gourmet living in France, Jeffrey Greene has scoured the fields, rivers, and beaches of Europe and his native New England in search of foods ranging from puffballs and periwinkles to stone pine nuts and gooseneck barnacles. For many, foraging is the latest trend in foodie culture, but for Greene this journey stretches back to his childhood, when his parents fled New York City to a shack-like house in rural Connecticut. Convinced they could live off the land, the family raised goats, planted gardens, gathered seafood at the nearby coast, and foraged for food from the woods. 
Inspired by these childhood experiences, Greene and his wife, Mary, bought and restored an old priory in rural Burgundy. Surrounded by forests, they learned to identify mushrooms and greens, and devoted themselves to inventing recipes for them. Thus began a pursuit that took Greene to the Polish Carpathians, the Appennines overlooking the Ligurian coast, the shores of Normandy and Brittany, and to Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims eked out their first winter in near starvation. Greene’s captivating book offers experienced foragers and novices alike an extensive sampling of his own recipes and a chance to come along with him on his international adventures. From razor clams and wild sea urchins, to young nettles and dandelion greens, to wild strawberries and cherries, Greene showcases the beauty of what one can cook up in a truly wild recipe.

In Pursuit of Wild Edibles: A Forager's Tour

Cookbooks, Food & Wine

Cooking by Ingredient

The wood used by master craftsmen to create many of the world’s legendary stringed instruments—violins and cellos, mandolins and guitars—comes from seven near-mythic European forests. In his latest book, Jeffrey Greene takes the reader into those woodlands and into luthiers’ workshops to show us how the world’s finest instruments not only contribute to great musical art but are prized works of art in themselves. 
Masters of Tonewood describes the "hidden life" of stringed instruments, beginning with the unique wood, expertly chosen and sometimes cured for decades, that gives them voices that rivet audiences. Greene takes us to forests in Italy, France, Switzerland, Austria, Romania, Poland, and the Czech Republic. We are introduced to the acoustical and aesthetic properties of the spruce that Stradivari treasured, and the mystery of why just one in a thousand maple trees contains decorative figuring worthy of the highest-quality instruments. Greene visits the greatest traditional centers of this craft, from Spain to the United States. He recounts the ideas and experiences of tonewood millers, luthiers, and musicians and discusses their concerns about environmental issues associated with a tradition dependent on ancient woodlands in a modern world.

Masters of Tonewood: The Hidden Art of Fine Stringed-Instrument Making

Arts & Photography

Music

Cahier 20Shades of the Other ShoreJeffrey Greene and Ralph PettyShades of the Other Shore has come about through a collaboration between  writer Jeffrey Greene and artist Ralph Petty. The two, writer and  artist, share rural American beginnings, but have since discovered a new  life in France, in sparsely populated French areas of Burgundy and the  Ardèche, respectively. Their cahier offers a deep mapping of their  adopted regions: Greene’s sequence of sketches and poems explores  imagined correspondences between personal and historical ghosts tied to  the seasons; Petty’s watercolours records a journey to the source of a  local river. The result is a rich artistic translation, through their  American sensibilities, of the landscapes of their chosen homes.

Shades of the Other Shore (Volume 20) (Cahiers)

Literature & Fiction

Petty, Ralph

United States

Sylph Editions

Glimpses of the invisible world in New Haven: Poems

Coreopsis Books

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Books by Greene, Jeffrey