Vocal Method,
Pennington tells a terrific story of the rise and fallofornamental vegetable gardening between the seventeenth andnineteenth centuries, andits comeback in the twentieth. The allureof her book is in its seamless lamination ofscholarship and lucidnarrative. The cast of supporting characters is made up ofbothfamiliar figures (Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Pope, etc.) andobscure heroes of horticul-ture and landscape architecture.Captivating and inspiring, this book will appeal to anyonewho evertried to grow something and eat it."Dean MacCannell, author of TheTourist