Dino, Godzilla, and the Pigs: My Life on Our Missouri Hog Farm

In a postscript written from Hermann (pop. 3000) in flooded Missouri, Fricke tells readers that she and her husband Dennis lost their cash crops, but that their home, equipment, pigs and ``a little corn'' survived. When she married a farmer, the author, a widow with a six-year-old son, Jack, had some acquaintance with working the land, but only with the farm crisis in 1986 did she join her husband in the fields. Sowing crops, tending 1500 hogs, learning to drive massive combines and tractors (taking care to wear sunscreen and moisturizers), and participating in a round of community and familial events are happenings depicted in this charming, well-crafted account of a way of life. The memoir introduces an attractive woman who copes with personal tragedies and natural disasters with buoyancy, a sense of humor and a deep commitment to a quintessentially rural lifestyle. Photos. (Oct.)