Louise Dickinson Rich is a star! A truly wonderful and gifted writer. You can't put her books down.

Louise Rich is not what you might expect a person who has given up the "essentials" of life to be. She is not trying to escape, not trying to save the wilderness, prove a point or return to her roots. Her motivation, quite simply, is that she likes where she lives and is willing to put up with a fair amount of discomfort to stay there. Moreover, she is mightily amused by the questions she is frequently asked by friends and acquaintances, the most common being:
"How do you make a living?"
"But, you don't live here all the year round?"
"Isn't housekeeping difficult?"
"What do you do with all your spare time?"
"Don't you ever get bored?"
"Aren't you ever frightened?"
"Don't you get awfully out of touch?"
"Do you get out very often?"
and
"Is it worth-while?"
Rich's eminently practical, and amusing answers to these questions form the basis of this book and will keep you grinning from ear to ear for hours.

It is clear from the start that Louise and her husband Ralph are more than capable of taking care of and amusing one another, and things only get better with the addition of various family members. These include Gerrish, their friend and handyman, son Rufus, daughter Sally, postman Larry, a skunk, five huskies, a marten and an ongoing parade of visitors, neighbors and "sports" (that's backwoods for tourists).

You will be treated to Rich's opinions on a wide variety of subjects, including women's fashions (and why she couldn't care less what she wears in the woods), the futility of trying to do housework when you're married to a man who loves motors, how to plan meals that take the weather's idiosyncrasies into account, the best way avoid getting lost, cut with an axe or burned by a stove. Even better, you will be taken along on a whole series of hilarious escapades as Rich learns how to cope with life in the woods.

With wry amusement she tells of the day she and her husband delivered their son on their own, her trip to the "Outside" after not having left the woods for 4 years, and the afternoon she spent cooking dinner for a bunch of lumberjacks. Here too are entertaining stories of playing tag with a family of foxes, going berry picking, pulling porcupine quills out of dogs, learning to tie fishing flies and locating hunters who get lost.

The real gift of this book however, is the chance to spend time with Rich herself. Here is someone it would be worth a long hike through snowy woods to visit. You'll feel like you've made a friend by the time the book is finished.

This book is one of the most enjoyable to read you will ever find. It is written in such a clear, humorous and timeless style that you would swear it was written yesterday instead of in 1942. Each chapter answers a question that would arise upon hearing that one had decided to live in the deep woods of Maine---how you do school your children? How do you keep in touch with society? How do you keep house? There are pictures and the kind of nitty gritty details we all like to read! In addition to just being great to read, I think this book is a very important one. I would say it had a part in starting at least two trends. One is the back to the land movement. At the time it was written, you just simply didn't decide to get away from it all and live in the woods! I think this book, which was extremely popular when it came out, put some unique ideas in a lot of heads and may have had a big part in giving people ideas about alternative ways of living. Also, I think it's one of the first autobiograpical books of its type---written plainly but with humor about a unique way of living. I think this book, which in my knowledge has never been out of print, is really one of the key non-fiction works of the 20th century. But don't read it for that, read it because it's fun to read and you will love it!

I have read this book quite a few times, and loved it just as much every time. It tells with amazing clarity and honesty what it's like to grow up---and although it's set in a Massachusetts town at the beginning of the century--it's fresher and more modern and sharp than most any book written today. The author is not afraid to admit that growing up is not all happiness and light, but also tells so well about the small, bright moments that we will remember forever from our childhoods. Don't miss this true gem of a book.

Having read many of her books about her life in rural Maine, I was disappointed with this one. It is written in the same simple style which is enjoyable to read but the content was not as good. Most of this book is about the various people who lived near the author. Discussions on their personality quirks and the mundain details of their lives are not really all that interesting. The stories are only intersting to those who know these people. I enjoy reading books like this to learn what life is like for others is situations different from mine. I learned nothing new with this one. I am glad I did not read this book first or I never would have read her others.

After two wonderful books (1942 & 1946) largely about herself and her relationship with the northwoods of Maine, Louise Rich was wise to shift her focus to the strong character, ethics and coping skills of her remote neighbors. My Neck of the Woods is a real treasure.

Louise Dickinson Rich was one of a kind and this is one of her best. This is one of those books that makes you a part of her fascinating and down to earth world.

For those who have come late to be adicted to Louise Rich's writings, this is a capstone book to be read last. It fills in the unspoken spaces in the writings of one of Maine's best writers. Alren has let Louise tell her own story and has stayed out of the way of this telling while being supportive at the same time.