f you tried to imagine the absolute opposite of our world on the farm, you might come close with the foodie/tech realm of San Francisco. This wonderfully written novel, “Sourdough” by Robin Sloan, engages readers with a mixture of wit, fact, and imagination that even farmers can find enjoyable.
Centered on a software engineer with zero culinary skills who gets drawn into the obscure world of artisan bread-making, the story consistently surprises and delights. Her search for meaning in an abstract profession is subtly woven through the narrative, and reaches a satisfying conclusion.
The depictions and adventures of lives so different from ours in our own country is a reminder how varied our culture is, and how we experience it from a fairly isolated perspective.
Sloan is adept with dialogue and plot, and I now know more than I want about the mysteries of yeast, extreme farmer’s markets, and the bizarre world of high technology work lives. Simply a great way to spend a few hours in another reality.
