A Buzzard Is My Best Friend

"The roads that stretch out from Washington DC reach into a gently rolling countryside of fertile fields, rushing streams, and majestic trees. The pastoral setting tugs at long-buried instincts and beckons the suburban dweller to abandon car pools, garden parties, and school committees for the country life. "In A Buzzard is My Best Friend, Mrs. Barnes artfully captures the essence of this retreat to the good and simple life, and recounts it well. "The suburban recluse answering the call of the wild is a thing to behold, an optimist run amuck, just a plain god-awful sight. There was humor. There was despair. There were times good and bad. But above all else there was an unending succession of challenges. There is another, deeper, level to A Buzzard is My Best Friend that goes beyond the simple telling of stories. Mrs. Barnes reaches out and grasps the essence of the human spirit. She explores the drives that push people beyond their own expectations and enable them to deal with adversity."—Gary Shultz, Dallas Times Herald "Margaret Anne Barnes' A Buzzard is My Best Friend is quite simply one of the warmest, most delightful books I have ever read. A remarkable writer gives us no only the gift of her language, but also the gift of her humor, insight, and spirit as she leads her family into the adventures—and misadventures—of the American farm. Read it and rejoice."—Terry Kay, author of To Dance with the White Dog "This is a marvelous account of how a working farm tried to destroy Margaret Anne Barnes and her nice suburban family. As valorous as the Swiss Family Robinson, our heroine and her gang withstand the rude, rural assaults and survive—with the help of a buzzard."—William A. Emerson, Jr., former editor of The Saturday Evening Post "From Washington suburbia to a 112 acre farm in Virginia is a considerable leap in time and space. The Barnes family made the transition with flags flying. Barnes tells about crises small and large, triumphs and tragedies, country people and visitors from the city. Readers of any age who love animals will enjoy her story."—Publishers' Weekly "This warm and funny novel was a great pleasure to read. It has all the makings not only for a popular book but also for a TV pilot and long-running TV series... a combination of the warmth of The Waltons and the sharp, humorous edge of M*A*S*H."—Joe Beck, attorney, Adjunct Professor of Copyright Law, Emory University Law School "This is a well-written tale of a family whose lives were changed and enriched by the farm experience. Recommended for public libraries."—Library Journal