Book of the Week #19

The Good Good Pig: The Extraordinary Life of Christopher Hogwood by Sy Montgomery. (Ballantine Books, 2006).

This book was in Donna Gilbreth's "NH Books" column in the Spring 2007 issue of Book Notes:

"The Good Good Pig is the humorous and sometimes poignant story of the family’s pet pig Christopher Hogwood. He was given to them as a severely undernourished runt on the verge of death. Yet he survived and as he grew ever larger over the next fourteen years he became a pampered member of the family and a local celebrity. Christopher was an expert at escaping the confines of the old barn, named Pig Palace. Montgomery speculated that "…perhaps, we mused, Christopher broke out for the same reason as do many young males. Maybe he was looking for beer." Christopher loved beer, and he loved Pig Spa, when his doting human admirers would groom him for hours. Christopher’s animal companions included eight black hens called "the Ladies" and an obsessive/compulsive border collie named Tess. Montgomery’s descriptions of feeding Christopher, who weighed several hundred pounds as an adult, are vivid and quite funny: "Christopher surged out of his pen, bucking and snorting. Any chickens in the way burst like grouse from cover and flew off in all directions. I ran ahead like a madwoman, struggling with the main slops bucket…." Food is definitely a central theme in this story. The book is also about how Christopher’s popularity helped Montgomery overcome shyness and make many human friends. Interwoven with the story of Christopher’s life and death is also the story of Montgomery’s rocky relationship with her parents and their eventual deaths. This is a book for young and old alike."

On Saturday, May 12, 2007 Sy Montgomery will be at Toadstool Bookshops: at 11am in Milford and at 2pm in Keene.