The Little Book of Cigars Book

This is the first of Nabhan's books that I've read, and it was exactly what I had hoped for. His writing style is lyrical, occasionally to the point of engendering slight discomfort in someone obviously too used to ironic, "meta" writing styles.

Nabhan writes of his initially-yearlong exploration of what it means to eat locally, starting with the admittedly-arbitrary "rules" (subject to change) of a 250-mile boundary around his house and the attempt to make four out of every five meals with foods from within that boundary. As is the case with any such quest or issue, Nabhan quickly discovers and starts exploring shadings and nuances and iterations of the idea of "local food," some of which take him far outside his Arizona foodshed. Although he doesn't shy away from stating his opinions and ideals, Nabhan also displays an academic's acknowledgment of his own limitations and biases, and to me, the amorphous, shifting nature of his exploration reflected reality far better than anything rigidly pre- or proscriptive could have.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone who wants to delve into the myriad ideas, ideals and issues that weave together under the heading of "sustainable food"... and to anyone who wants to be swept up, through words, into the smoke and dust and sunshine and songs that make up Nabhan's bit of earth.