A pretty quick read, the story is more focused on Alexander's experiences and self-analysis than any horticultural advice, so if your are looking to learn about gardening this isn't really the intent of the book.

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I loved this book. The author was hilarious! I could completely identify with his garden obsessions. The part with him battling the ground hog had me laughing until I cried. If you enjoy gardening, I strongly recommend picking up this book.

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I really loved this book, it was quite funny. The author still has a lot to learn about gardening on a budget though. I guess with a doctor wife it is okay to spend $10,000 annually on the garden but for the rest of America that is just ridiculous. That was really the only thing that irritated me, the over spending when it really wasn't necessary. As for the title I think you will see that his math isn't so great, the tomatoes really cost him alot less than calculated, he includes the price of trimmers of the shrubs adjacent to the tomato plots in their cost, hmmmm? Anyway's, it is a good read if your an avid gardener like myself, just suspend disbelief if you can and enjoy his follies, and the lengths he goes to for his crops.

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I totally agree with the review by Priscila Z. It is a quick and painless read. I enjoy first person books that have a touch of humor, but if you hope to get some gardening advice of any nature out of this book don't bother. I was hoping for grass roots gardening stories but they don't exist in this story. The writer started by having a custom garden created (for $8,500, 20 years ago!) and it went on from there.
Still, a nice diversion from the deeper non-fiction I normally read.

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In The $64 Tomato, Bill Alexander waxes poetic in an attempt to rationalize the size and design of his garden beds and to minimize the huge job of weeding. He doesn't put the same poetic response toward his failure to remain organic. Good intentions were the road to chemical intervention in his garden as the pests got tougher and tougher - and bigger: Superchuck the woodchuck! My woodchuck visitor last year didn't come back, and didn't provide me with the same level of entertainment as Superchuck did the Alexanders, thank goodness.

If you're looking for a gardening book with straightforward advice, this isn't it. If you're looking for a good read with a fun take on the entire gardening experience, this is just right.

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Really can you even imagine spending this much to have a tomato? I can't. This was an enjoyable read about a man obsessed with producing the perfect tomato. Now stop and think about this..unless you are willing to spend gobs of money it will not be possible to grow becasue just as Mr Alexander points out...there are so many things to fight and crisis after crisis to produce this round, juicy red morsel of heaven and rich earth. Some people just become obsessed is all i can say. This was a fun read and made me laugh in several places. Sliced carefully, divided into maybe 6 slices from a large tomato... even a huge juicy tomato from the best southern road side stand will never cost you over a few cents a slice...ever. $64.00 makes me wanna really taste this tomato. :)

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What a wonderful book! If you've grown up gardening or currently garden, this book will be one you can relate to. The author's stories of gardening brought back so many of my own memories of gardening, including how to deal with invasive insects and weeds, but in such a humourous way. It includes little hints throughout the stories, such as how to get your apple trees to correctly pollinate, but is really a joy to read about his garden from conception to harvesting. For those that love to eat what they grow, this book will be a comfort to read as there are others out there like us!

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I loved this book. I am not really a gardener but it made me laugh. Good fun read, enjoyed it immenesly!

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I absolutely loved this book! It helped be get through a long cold winter in the Hudson Valley. Such an array of emotions in this book, tenderness, love, frustration, hilarity and everything in between. I'm inspired and even happier to start my garden again this spring!

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Was very different from what I was expecting when I ordered the book. But I have to say it was a very enjoyable story of his adventures in the attemp to grow his own veggies. The guy was a good story teller.

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I think I can relate to this book because we have herds of deer that mow everything down and what they miss the gophers get. It is a never ending battle.

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The $64 Tomato by William Alexander is a humorous account of a gardener battling to start and maintain a whopping, uber-sized 2,000 square foot kitchen garden! For a professional man and his physician wife to even strive for such a large garden in their spare time is either insane or they have to have a good sense of humor. Well, he definitely had a good sense of humorthis book was funny. About being insane, Im not qualified to comment.

In this book William Alexander calls gardening a blood sport for a good reason. He battled everything from clay soil, to garden designers, landscapers, weeds, numerous bug infestations, squirrels, and even groundhogs, or more specifically Superchuck. One of the most amusing episodes was his battle with Superchuck. Superchuck was woodchuck, aka groundhog, who somehow bypassed the electric fence to sneak into the kitchen garden and took bites out of prized Brandywine tomatoes. And in his super arrogance, he didn't just take a couple tomatoes and devour them. No, he took one bite out of a whole handful of tomatoes each time he magically worked his way through the 10,000-volt deterrence. What followed was battle of wits. Youll have to read it to see who officially won.
Read other reviews at http://readinginthegarden.blogspot.com

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An enjoyable read as you follow a home gardener as he learns the ropes, reaps his harvest, and the unexpected triumphs and satisfactions along the way. Humerous.

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Good read.

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Cover says "gardening as an extreme sport", gardening is the antithesis of an extreme sport, I doubt that he will survive the coming cataclysm.

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