About this item
A year in the life of one New England family as they work to preserve an ancient, lucrative, and threatened agricultural art--the sweetest harvest, maple syrup . . . How has one of Americas oldest agricultural crafts evolved from a quaint enterprise with "sugar parties" and the delicacy "sugar on snow" to a modern industry? At a sugarhouse owned by maple syrup entrepreneur Bruce Bascom, 80,000 gallons of sap are processed daily during winters end. In The Sugar Season, Douglas Whynott follows Bascom through one tumultuous season, taking us deep into the sugarbush, where sunlight and sap are intimately related and the sound of the taps gives the woods a rhythm and a ring. Along the way, he reveals the inner workings of the multimillion-dollar maple sugar industry. Make no mistake, its big business -- complete with a Maple Hall of Fame, a black market, a major syrup heist monitored by Homeland Security, a Canadian organization called The Federation, and a Global Strategic Reserve thats comparable to OPEC (fitting, since a barrel of maple syrup is worth more than a barrel of oil) . Whynott brings us to sugarhouses, were we learn the myriad subtle flavors of syrup and how its assigned a grade. He examines the unusual biology of the maple tree that makes syrup possible and explores the maples -- and the industrys -- chances for survival, highlighting a hot-button issue: how global warming is threatening our food supply. Experts predict that, by the end of this century, maple syrup production in the United States may suffer a drastic decline. As buckets and wooden spouts give way to vacuum pumps and tubing, we see that even the best technology cant overcome warm nights in the middle of a season--and that only determined men like Bascom can continue to make a sweet like off of rugged land. Read more Continue reading Read less REVIEW What began as a curious search to uncover the mechanics and marketing of maple syrup turns, in his calm telling, into a case study of how venerable family enterprises deal with an uncertain future Parts of this tale recall John McPhees fact-laden reports about our earth and those who seek to comprehend its hidden components." Winnipeg Free Press, 3/1/14 There are many flavours in this affectionate look at the maple-syrup industry in the United States, along with a light taste of the Canadian flow The Sugar Season includes nostalgia, family histories, business competition, technological development, the free-market approach of the U.S. (compared to the marketing-board approach of Quebec) and, as a disturbing subtext, environmental concern The Sugar Season does a good job of taking us from the days of tin buckets and wooden spouts to vacuum pumps and tubing, also providing readers with a look to the future [Whynott] makes you pause and appreciate a nibble on a maple leaf sugar candy." Saveur, 3/6/14 A closely observed portrait of a largely unknown worldone that is full of interesting characters who have devoted their lives to transforming an intensely seasonal crop into a global commodity its a smart, engrossing read that gives this sweet cropone of Americas oldest agricultural productsits full due." Whynott examines both the complicated past of the maple syrup industry and questions about its future In a world where one barrel of syrup is worth more than a barrel of oil, Whynotts descriptions of black market dealings and syrup heists highlight the value of this sweet crop Balancing the global history of the maple syrup trade with its local impact, The Sugar Season immerses readers in a reading experience both historical and personal in nature." Publishers Weekly, 2/21/2014 This inside look at the ups and downs of the maple syrup industry over its year-long harvesting and production cycle will be fascinating to anyone interested in the modern food industry, the effect of global warming on agriculture, and just how that sweet syrup got from a stand of sugar maples to the breakfast table Enlightening and alarming." Minneapolis Star Tribune, 3/9/14 Tells the story of the annual sap run, when the cycle of warming daytime temperatures and nighttime freezes triggers the movement of sap in the sugar maples. Despite growth and technological advances, it remains such an elemental storyof trees and their biology, of children working alongside grandparents, of steam and sparks in the sugar house in the overnight boiling down of the sap Lyrical history, geography and insights into family life centered around a demanding business." Beverly Citizen, 3/15/14 [A] fascinating exploration of the maple syrup industry Part business case study and part John McPhee nonfiction adventure into the depths of a subjectas told by a host of driven, devoted and talented characters. Whynotts comprehensive lay of the land includes climate change, the transformation of syrup production into a bankable industry, the interdependent community of syrup makers, the forests and their health, the process of making syrup and the complexity of the syrup itself." Easthampton Valley Advocate (Ma) , 3/13/14 Shows the business of maple sugaring as a sophisticated, complex industry, subject, like all industries, to market forces and circumstances beyond producers control." Toronto Globe and Mail, 3/22/14 Provides keen insights into this particular branch of modern agriculture, and makes a strong case for maple syrup as a bellwether for the continents environmental health." The Writer, May 2014 An in-depth contemplation of the maple syrup industry." Boston Globe, 3/5/14 A wide-ranging look inside the maple syrup business Whynott skillfully explains how maple syrup gets made, how vitally important weather is, and how global warming may threaten the industrys future Whynotts engaging book offers a skillful and fascinating peek behind the curtain of one of the regions oldest and most beloved traditional industries
About the Author
Douglas Whynott is a masterful storyteller and New England writer whose books have depicted the lives of migratory beekeepers, commercial bluefin tuna fishermen, boatbuilders, veterinarians, and maple syrup producers. One reviewer wrote that Whynott's "attention transcends his ostensible subject until it becomes a profound look at the human condition." Another that he writes a "kind of narrative that celebrates the ordinary in life. In doing so, however, it uncovers the extraordinary." His 2014 book, The Sugar Season, won the Green Book Festival Award for writing about the environment and was selected as one of the best books of 2014 by the Boston Globe. Of Following the Bloom, a reviewer wrote, "This enthralling book...although factual, evokes transcendental contemplation and daydream." Of Giant Bluefin, a New York Times reviewer stated that Whynott "celebrates the wonder of these fish most expressively in these pages." A Country Practice was described as "the best introduction to veterinary life since James Herriott." In Whynott's book about a Maine boatyard, A Unit of Water, A Unit of Time, a reviewer wrote that "With unstated grace, the author evokes a sense of maritime community as well as a fierce devotion to boats and a love of the sea, which emerges as an almost mystical form of communion with nature and the cosmos. E. B. White would have approved of this quietly profound book." Whynott is an 11th generation Cape Codder and the great-great grandson of Cape Cod seacaptains, a former piano tuner, dolphin trainer and blues pianist. He has taught writing at Columbia University, Emerson College, and the National University of Colombia in Bogota.
