21st-Century Yokel
by Tom Cox
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Pub Date 16 Nov 2017 | Archive Date 26 Mar 2018
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Description
21st-Century Yokel explores the way we can be tied inescapably to landscape, whether we like it or not, often through our family and our past. It’s not quite a nature book, not quite a humour book, not quite a family memoir, not quite folklore, not quite social history, not quite a collection of essays, but a bit of all six.
It contains owls, badgers, ponies, beavers, otters, bats, bees, scarecrows, dogs, ghosts, Tom’s loud and excitable dad and, yes, even a few cats. It’s full of Devon’s local folklore – the ancient kind, and the everyday kind – and provincial places and small things. But what emerges from this focus on the small are themes that are broader and bigger and more definitive.
The book’s language is colloquial and easy and its eleven chapters are discursive and wide-ranging, rambling even. The feel of the book has a lot in common with the country walks Tom Cox was on when he composed much of it: it’s bewitched by fresh air, intrepid in minor ways, haunted by weather and old stories and the spooky edges of the outdoors, restless, sometimes foolish, and prone to a few detours... but it always reaches its intended destination.
The book is illustrated with Tom’s own landscape photographs and linocuts by his mother.
Advance Praise
"Tom Cox is an enchanting companion in this modern romp through treasured landscapes. I laughed and learned on every page." (Tristan Gooley, author of The Natural Navigator and The Walker's Guide to Outdoor Clues and Signs)
"A wonderful, witty and moving collection of essays that, together, meander somewhere between nature writing, memoir and quiet polemic. As ever, Tom Cox’s musing and meditations are profound and playful; reflective and seriously readable, riffing on the difficulties of locating bat detectors in Argos one moment and painting heartbreaking eulogies to his Nan the next. A storyteller in entrancing form." (Rob Cowen, author of Common Ground)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781783524563 |
| PRICE | £16.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 416 |
Featured Reviews
Rachel G, Reviewer
This isn’t my usual kind of book but I love the author on twitter and have enjoyed his other cat based books immensely. This was beautifully written and took me on a journey unlike any other. His love of nature and the countryside shines through and his unique view makes this a superb book.
Graham S, Educator
Tom Cox has a relaxed and engaging style perfectly suited to this rambling meditation about his familiar walking routes. He takes interesting diversions as he ponders on the fate of nature, family relationships and life itself. He recognises that an eye for tiny details, thoughtful analysis of landscape and the elements, encourages engagement with existential questioning and can give us all a better connection with the world we are privileged to exist in. At times his writing flows beautifully, conjuring up the contours of the hillsides and vistas that he describes. Like many 'new nature' books it can be dipped into often and will reveal more each time. Is it better than being there... perhaps a question better saved for a day of horizontal rain and howling gales, from which the book might be a great escape.
Penny S, Librarian
Goodreads review below -
I enjoyed spending time with Tom and his family. I'm using his first name already!
And that's what this book felt like - a series of conversations about Tom's World.
And I have to say his world can sometimes be a little strange (scarecrow obsession?) but always very entertaining. In lesser hands a book such as this could become mere ramblings, but with Tom we usually see where he is going - even though his thoughts twist and turn.
I loved the mixture of personal memoir, local history, nature and walking. His tribute to his much loved Liverpool born Nan was very touching.
Tom has a huge sense of place. His surroundings and where he defines 'home' are hugely important to him. He doesn't have a 9 to 5 job taking him away from a house or village each day. So his home, also his workplace, becomes all encompassing, maybe to an excessive extent.
When I started reading I did assume Tom was a young man, possibly in his late 20s or early 30s. There was a naivety about him - and I was very surprised later on to work out he was actually in his 40s.
I also realised that his Leftie, Green, Hippy tousled haired persona was carefully cultivated. I often felt we weren't really getting the real Tom although there were hints - maybe he is nowhere near as 'interesting'?
What stops me giving the book a higher marking is the constant repetition - he must tell us a dozen times that he moved from East Anglia to Devon.
I also found his VERY LOUD DAD an irritant especially the constant TALKING IN CAPITALS. Quite amusing at first but it soon wore very thin.
Many thanks to Netgalley for an ARC of this work.
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