The Chicken Chronicles

Book excerpt: For the past several years, on a farm north of San Francisco, the celebrated writer Alice Walker has diligently cared for a flock of chickens. Over time, her blossoming relationship with "her girls" became a source of inspiration, strength, and spiritual discovery, and helped Walker connect more profoundly with her own past as a girl in rural Georgia. Walker has recorded this journey in The Chicken Chronicles, an extraordinary document of personal discovery, political commitment, and the joys of relating to animals. Each of Walker's thirty-eight chronicles addresses her "girls" directly, sometimes from the intimate proximity of her yard, other times at a great distance, from her journeys to Bali and Dharamsala as a witness and activist for peace and justice. By turns uplifting and heartbreaking, The Chicken Chronicles is a new treat for Walker fans, a powerful touchstone for anyone seeking a deeper connection with the natural world, and a celebration of chickens everywhere