The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir

A happy series of accidents and a doughnut-laden escape upstate take Josh Kilmer-Purcell and his partner, Brent Ridge, to the doorstep of the magnificent (and fabulously for sale) Beekman Mansion. And so begins their transformation from uptight urbanites into the two-hundred-year-old-mansion-owning Beekman Boys. Suddenly Josh-a full-time New Yorker with a successful advertising career-and Brent find themselves weekend farmers, surrounded by nature's bounty and an eclectic cast: roosters who double as a wedding cover band; Bubbly, the bionic cat; and a herd of goats, courtesy of their new caretaker, Farmer John.

The Bucolic Plague is a tart and sweet, touching and laugh-out-loud funny story about goats, mud, homemade soap, approaching middle age, and finding new depths of love and commitment wherever you live.