Order from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.*
My new book, The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentlemen Farmers, is now out. So far it’s getting good reviews. Waiting for them is always a little nerve-wracking. (The New York Times says: “…My Amtrak seat mate in the Quiet Car, a complete stranger, insisted that I read out loud the scene — a goat in labor — that was making me laugh so hard I was crying…Kilmer-Purcell’s book is manically funny, sweetly open and trusting, and slick and snarky. Must be something in the soil.”)
Brent and I are both very excited about it, and also a little anxious. While I may have revealed a lot about myself in my first memoir, I Am Not Myself These Days, the embarrassing events in that first book happened a full decade before the world read them. In contrast, The Bucolic Plague is the story of how Brent and I purchased the Beekman, started Beekman 1802, and almost lost everything – including each other – as we began straddling urban and rural life. It’s a relatively recent story, and one that, frankly, is still unfolding. You see it here daily.
But even though we share a lot of our “behind the scenes” here at Beekman 1802, there are some things that deserve a little more introspection than I can get across in a simple blog entry. Believe it or not, Brent and I are kinda private about our private lives. I promised I’d never write another memoir until I’d learned something new and important. And, I think my experience buying the Beekman and starting a business with my partner in the midst of a global financial meltdown taught me quite a few things – some of which are not so flattering. But they could be interesting and entertaining to people who might be thinking about taking a similar plunge. Or just like to rubberneck.
As it says on our homepage, this is all one big “shared experiment.” We have no idea if it will be successful, and there’s no fallback plan. Like most farmers, we’re always just a few weeks away from losing it all. The Bucolic Plague is my honest look at middle age, Brent’s and my relationship, and putting all of our life’s investment in the hands (or hooves) of a herd of goats.
Crazy? Maybe. But then again, if you can’t have faith in goats, I feel sorry for you.
Order The Bucolic Plague from Amazon or Barnes & Noble .
To get your copy autographed by both Brent and myself, please mail it along with a Self Addressed Stamped Return Envelope to The Beekman 1802 Mercantile, 210 Main Street, Sharon Springs, NY 13459.
Here’s what a few people are already saying about The Bucolic Plague:
“I adore the Beekman boys’ story. Their unlikely story of love, the land, and a herd of goats is hilariously honest. If these two can go from Manhattan to a goat farm in upstate New York, then I can’t help feeling there is hope for us all.” – Alice Waters
“I gobbled up this book like – well, like goat cheese on a cracker. Kilmer-Purcell’s genius lies in his ability to blindside the reader with heart-wrenching truths in the midst of the most outlandish scenarios. He makes you laugh until you care.” – Armistead Maupin
“A delicious book about two city boys who buy a farm, fall in love with a herd of goats and attempt to revive the American dream. But then life, two mortgages and an economic crisis interfere. Every twist and turn, every triumph and set back had me on the edge of my seat. Never has mucking out a stall been more scintillating!” – Alison Smith
I love your show and am looking forward to the book! My husband watched a few eps when he was home and enjoyed it. I wish you all the best and am hoping to journey back east to look up your store. You both a breath of fresh air (literally:)
Just finished this book in 2 days, with a toddler – I haven’t been able to finish a book in 2 years (apparently I was reading the wrong stuff). Incredibly entertaining & I will be recommending it to some folks I know. The downside: I feel incredibly lazy know. It’s snowing out, but I have the urge to go thaw some soil with hot water and MAKE something grow.
Nice work & good luck to you boys.
Boys, I’m laughing out loud on the el (Chicago’s subway) reading ‘Bucolic.’ I’m loving every minute of it. AND I see so many shades of myself and my hubby, Steve, in your adventures. Thanks for making me smile & laugh. Love to the kids!
Richard
Thanks, Barbara
We’ll keep plugging along
Dear Josh and Brent,
I discovered your show one day while channel surfing. I was instantly hooked. Your personalities are so engaging and lovable that it is such a pleasure to watch you as you attempt to make your farm and business a success.
I have read Josh’s memoirs and loved both of them. Josh, what a wonderful turn-around you’ve made in your life. You are so talented in your writing, your career and your gormet cooking skills. Brent, I admire your intelligence, drive and determination; you’re a great asset to the community of Sharon Springs. Together you make an awesome team; both of you are true inspirations.
My husband gave me a set of Beekman 1802 soap for my birthday. Knowing how much I enjoy your show, I found it to be such a thoughtful and meaningful gift. Every bar smells so good and I just love them.
I hope that despite our faltering economy, you are able to reach your dream of living full-time at the Beekman and having comfortable, meaningful, rewarding lives.
Barbara
Hello Brent & Josh,
I just finished the book after watching the series on Planet Green all summer…what a great read. I am so jealous of what you two are doing at Beekman, it is what my partner and I have been thinking about for years…getting back to the country and running a farm. We are sick of the city life and look forward to a slower pace. We will celebrate 13 years in January and you both are an inspiration, to us and the rest of us out there longing to get back to our roots.
I can’t wait to see you all in season 2…Congrats. I now know where to get all of my Christmas presents this year.
Are you still signing books…if so mine will be in the mail this weekend.
Thanks so much for the opportunity to get a glimpse of yours, and hopefully in the future, our dream.
Sincerely,
Jason & Randy
Living in a magazine would be totally awesome!
I just finished your book “The Bucolic Plague” I laughed, actually hooted and I cried. I could not put it down. I think one of the main things I loved was that I was not the only person in the world that didn’t like to have large groups of company due to being afraid that they would scratch up the floors. I just want people to come in and stand in one spot. Who knew I had a twin. My husband tells me that I want to live in a magazine. Maybe it’s a Southern “Thang” I’m from SC. Love you both. Anna Dean
Josh
What an amazing story you told.
I have told so many people about my favorite gay farmers.
It is so nice to have you and Brent to show America that alot of us gay couples are just as boring as they are, without the mansion of course.
Keep up the great work guys. Skip and I are planning a spring trip to Sharon Springs in 2011.
Starting “I am not myself these days” later today.
Thank you for being you and sharing you with all of us
Steven and Skip
The book touched my heart. It made me cry and laugh. The joys, the ups and downs, it’s what life is all about and what we make of it. Keep on farming..and I can’t wait until you have some Beekman Boys t-shirts..:)
Hi Josh,
I ordered all three of your books and read them all within 24 hours. Loved them all. Laughed and cried a lot! The show is great. Thanks to both of you for sharing your lives with everyone.
Regards, Liz
I just finished your book “The Bucolic Plague”. I had ordered it from Amazon and received it today in the mail, opened it, could not put it down and read the whole thing in one afternoon. I became a fan of the show just a couple months ago and found myself stressed to the max that the Beekman life was almost lost for you. I hope what we see on the show is real as far as the soap and cheese business really prospering now. You all have captured my heart including Farmer John who I cry along with everytime he talks about his goats. His heart is so tender. So is yours, I also read your first book. The life you are in now is so much better for you. The web site is great and I look forward to the new season of the show.
Hi Josh and Brent,
Just bought your book this past Saturday evening. 35 chapters, that’s great I’m thinking, it will take me forever to read. I’m one of these people who starts to daydream if I read for long periods at a time. So this was great because I can read a few chapters at a time.
5 pm on Sunday and I’m finished reading the book. Are you kidding me!!!!!
The book was great, loved it, loved it, loved it. I am glad that I read it after I had seen all your shows. I could relate better to all of you on a more personal note.
Thank you for letting me get to know all of you better. Whether you live in Martha land or Oprah’s living your best life, both of you inspire me to take a chance and go for it.
I have always wanted to have a home, in upstate NY, with an acre of property so that I can raise laying hens, have a garden and some farm animals (goats are looking pretty good). My husband as finally agreed to it as long as he can go to Las Vegas once a year.
Hope to be a neighbor one of these days!
Congrats on the milestone, Scott!
Josh, I was looking forward to getting the newest book, but was curious to find that none of your books are on audio (CD or itunes). Is this something in the future that you may do, and if so would you be the narrator? I cannot imagine listening to the stories by anyone but you (and even add Dr. Brent like Kristin Chenowith did with several of her friends in her autobiography “Wicked”)! I sit at a desk and process insurance work, so I get through a lot of books on my ipod, and would really enjoy yours as well.
I am so glad that Planet Green picked up the show for Season Two! Looking forward to it, and happy tenth anniversary! My partner Bruce and I will celebrate our tenth next June and my brother and his partner will be celebrating their twentieth next June!
I have just about the same comments as julie blue. I also found your show by accident. I was “channel surfing” one night and stopped on the Planet Green Channel. Now I can hardly wait until Wednesday nights. I haven’t bought your book yet but I am going to. I love the show, I wish you had hour long episodes, I just can’t get enough of your story. Thanks to both of you.
Josh and Dr. Brent, love your show, was so happy to hear Planet Green picked up the show for a 2nd season, was down in the dumps thinking last weeks show was the end.
I have you book and will be sending it to be autographed by two fabulous boys!! Thanks for sharing your lives and adventures with us.
dear josh & brent,
WOW!!!!! what an amazing book (the bucolic plague)! i caught your show about a month ago by accident and immediately fell head over heel in love with you guys, farmer john, the goats, of course, and everything else.
my birthday was 8/2, and i received the book as a b-day gift, however i COULD NOT put it down, and nowi’ve gone and finished it. i certainly intend to purchase josh’s first book tomorrow, but how fast can you write because i’m ready for the next installment of TFBB’s…NOW!
congratulations on your initial success, and i’m sure it will continue. be good to each other (and all of the animals,too), and hurry up and hire some additional help around the farm before you BOTH keel over!
thanks for great tv (finally!), as well as the great read.
sincerely,
julie blue
Hi, guys! Just want you to know how much I love you two, and also Farmer John, and the show! What a beautiful home, a beautiful area, and a beautiful story! I am fascinated by the history of your home, and did not know about the Indian raids or the underground railroad, slave chains in the attic, etc, until I read it on this site. Have always loved old homes. (They are nice places to visit and read about, but I wouldn’t want to live in one, as my family has had enough experiences with ghosts. I was turned from a skeptic to a believer.) Anyhooooo…..thank you for sharing your farm and your story with us, and for brightening our dreary lives, LOL. I love you both, am about to order the book, and am looking so forward to reading it! Love you all!!
Josh, I’ve just started reading your book “The Bucolic Plague”. I’m only at page 47 and still laughing…the alarm incident was just priceless…can’t wait to read more. Love the show. Reference episode 7, the meal you created looked great but a little garnish around Teeny on that platter would have made her look fabulous (lol). My favorite part of the holiday season is being in the kitchen with a group of relatives/friends cooking, talking and laughing…of course there MUST be a continuous flow of alcohol during the these gatherings just to keep everyone happy!!! Looking forward to additional antics from “The Fabulous BEEKMAN Boys”.
Just finished the two memoirs and I am so happy. I do worry a bit about you two, lol.
Josh, I , too, detassled corn when I was 14 years old. Detassling is done to female plants so the males will polinate the females (instead of the females self-polinating). It makes a hybrid corn. It was hard and horrible work, but it enabled me to buy my own school clothes!
I am from Ithaca NY and went to school in Albany. Route 88 hadn’t been bulit yet, and I loved to drive on Rt. 20. Cherry Valley is so beautiful! And I stopped in Sharon Springs more than once. Thia was in the late ’70s and it was deserted. So happy to hear it is coming back. It was a harrowing drive on Rt. 20 one winter, in a blizzard, in my 1962 convertible VW bug. I didn’t know if I’d make it up the hill!
I also took the train from Albany to NY hundreds of times. We’d go into the city on Saturday morning, mess around all day and then party all night in disreputable places (the only name I remember is the Ram Rod, lol). Sunday mid-day we’d head back and sleep, hung over, on the train. Reading your book took me back! Thank you, I love good writing, good puns, good people.
I hope your show continues! I’m going to go and buy some soap now!
I just caught your show last weekend on TLC and I’m now addicted. Of course, my DVR is set to record any new episodes.
I downloaded The Bucolic Plague on my Kindle and finished it within a couple of days. It was a fun, entertaining read. I’m exhausted just thinking about all the chores you accomplished each weekend at the farm!
Now I need to try your soap and cheese. Good luck to both of you in all your business and farming adventures.
Dear Josh (and Brent). I just finished your book Josh, up reading it in 3 nights at bedtime. Did not want it to end. Am not sharing with friends, I’ve already bought a few extra to give to new
“fans” friends of mine. This book was so different from what I expected. It was funny, inspiring, heartbreaking. I wasn’t expecting the heartbreaking. To see the two of you two struggling to “keep it together” personally, and financially was hard to read. The idea of losing your dream and your relationship in the bargain was not easy. But you seem to have prevailed. To dream is easy, to take the plunge to achieve is
another story and then the thought of losing it through no fault of your own is another story. We are addicted to your show, hard for me as I don’t “addict” to any show. But this one remains on the DVR and we watch again and again and have recommended it to our country-loving friends. We have received the Blaak cheese order yesterday and we LOVE it.Will be regular customers. Have already ordered two orders of soap, the large set for myself and the 6-bar set for a friend’s upcoming birthday. Adding both to our Christmas list.
Wish you well and I’m going to use your idea of the carved oranges with tealights at Christmas. Great idea! Also, am going to try the Purple Cherokee tomato next year. Our heirloom garden grows year by year and we love trying new varieties. We do organic gardening as well so this tomato will be a challenge. Love the show last night with your family and Thanksgiving. You and Brent compliment each other and hope you hang on that!
All the best! Lyn
What a wonderful show! Thanks so much for sharing your lives with us. I lived in Nebraska for many years and I would have a garden every summer. While watching your show it brings back fond memories of that time in my life. Josh’s book is excellent!
I just want you both to know I really would love to live your dream of having the farm and the love you guys give to one another. I look forward to reading the book soon and ordering some doap and cheese.
Shani
.
A couple weeks ago I picked up both your books…the Bucolic Plague as well as your earlier memoir.
I throughly enjoyed reading both of them. It made for a great summer weekend, relaxing on the porch, and laughing along with your stories.
Thanks!
Josh, Thank you for sharing with us your experience taking risks and adventure. Your honesty, your humor, and perfect odor descriptions of farm life. The situations are endearing, and the relationships are perfectly presented. Thank you-LOVE THE BOOK. Andre’
Thanks so much for your support and your advertising in Barnes & Noble (!). You have no idea how much we appreciate it . The goats appreciate it, too
Hi Guys,
I am just finishing the book and will soon hand it over to my partner. Love the book and the show. We have decided that you have stolen our lives and inserted your names into it. I am Josh and Gary is Brent.
Dear Dr. Brent & Josh,
I have a story to tell…I was at Barnes& Noble bookstore to pick up Josh newest book “The Bucolic Plague” today (7/12/10), and I was asking the cashier person to be careful handling the book without damaging the leaf cover (smile). I went on and explained to him that I will have to mail it to have it autograph signed by the author & his partner. When I was leaving going toward to the front door, one of the young lady works from couple cashier down before I was exited. She waved me down and asked how I will get the book to be personally autographed, somehow she heard my comment (she must have good eyes). She mention she’d read Josh first book and LOVED! I smiled, and my eyes start getting bigger; and by the moments goes by, I could hear myself talking louded to her (lol)…I’ve thought to myself…oh boy, did she just asked me that…and for a poor girl, she didn’t know that she has just opened a can of worms out of me…LOL…I’ve thought to myself…please somebody STOP me (LMBO)
Anyway, I told her that I will have the book send it to NY to get it sign or maybe even better, I may have to personally flying up to Sharon Spring, NY and camping out side the farm to get it sign! And on and on I’m just raving about the new reality show that she’s MUST see “The Fabulous Beekman boys” on Planet Green channel and it is on every Wednesday at 8pm, and she’s needs to watch all the previous show, too. She was like…uh, yes, they have a show…and here I ‘m going crazy liked a mad woman telling this young lady all about it. Picture that in your head, a petite woman, loud, and smile ear to ear..haha… I was on cloud nine for your. Luckily, I wasn’t physically very bad to look & listen too, or someone would have come and slapped me on the head…ha-ha.
For couple minutes in to the story, I’ve caught her eyes looking behind me, that’s when I’ve noticed there were people behind me were waiting in the line and they’re listened to me ranting it away about the show. ( I think some are curious, I saw some with smiles, so I think I did hitting it home, guys) . Well, I was a little bit embarrassed (because I was loud, yak!), but quickly I told the cashier to watch the show and spread the word, and I slowly turn around toward the people with a big smile on my face and gradually walking away.
Well, guys driving off the bookstore all of the sudden I was in much better mood. And all I could say it to you, that’s really made my day!!! Just a little contribution, it may not mean anything to you, but I adore your guys, therefore, I could not help myself to falling in love with both of you.
Dear Josh and Dr. Brent, I’m so happy to shares the world about your love story and the new life that you are shares at the farm. I will continually & passionately to spread the word.
Cheer and all the best for both of you on your journey of love, health, and longevity.
Seriously, if you do need help I will volunteer to come to the farm to do whatever your guys needs me too (I may learning how to be a farmer). My phone is waiting , I m playing housewife right now…so I do need some enlighten for my little brain. I’d dare you’re to ask me to volunteer.. Lol
Take care,
Love & regards,
Kristine Nguyen
I stumbled across your show a few weeks ago and had to share you with my husband. We are BOTH hooked on you! My good friend back in Texas has a dairy goat farm (among other things like bee-keeping, sheep, chickens and peacocks) and you remind me of the time I spent at her place, but much more fabulous, of course. I keep telling her she must watch the show! I’m planning to get the book this week! Thanks for sharing your life with us.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with being a “Brent”. Stop the hate : )
Love the book. Love the series. Everyone at work, at church, and the gym, now know of and are addicted to Beekman. Except everyone calls me Brent now. I tell them, no I am more Josh, my husband is Brent. At least, I think so.
Finally got my books (yeah) I had to wait for the book because our Barnes and Noble was sold out! I’m going to send it to you for an autograph,Because I cannot wait to start reading it, I bought 2!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your show…and find myself wondering day to day what your guys are up to. Just booked the American Hotel for the fetival on Sept. 18th, I hope to run into you while we visit. I simply cannot wait… Rhonda