A Horse-Drawn Sickle Bar Cutter
Finding My Road to Felicity
About life-changing road trips, falling in and out of love, and discovering passion in work, A Horse-Drawn Sickle Bar Cutter is a jubilant memoir.
Starting with his genealogy and childhood, Robert Merrick Fuller’s memoir A Horse-Drawn Sickle Bar Cutter covers his upbringing, pitfalls, and victories, all charted around the central theme of paths to felicity.
Fuller grew up in Ludlow, Massachusetts, during the 1950s as the grandson of a fourth-generation dairyman. His childhood was bucolic and exploratory: He went on milk deliveries, started a job as a newspaper delivery boy, and observed the monumental transitions of a postwar America. In his young adulthood, though, he became more troubled: His father was complex and distant; he fell behind in school; he struggled to feel motivated.
A perspective shift led Fuller to believe that life is made up of one’s individual choices and that a person has the power to change their life in drastic ways, setting him right. He entered adulthood with this mentality in mind, going on life-changing road trips, falling in and out of love, and discovering his passion for the restaurant business. Such memories are interspersed with personal photographs and a handful of couplet poems describing pillar moments.
Though it is enlivened by exuberant observations of changing seasons in childhood and details of wonderful sights on adulthood road trips, the book’s timeline is hazy early on. There are references to events from quite different time periods in the midst of its scenes, interrupting its flow. Indeed, the progression through Fuller’s childhood has a snapshot quality on the whole, trading between disparate scenes in too-quick succession. Scenes focused on Fuller’s late adolescence and early adulthood are smoother, capturing with clarity the triumph of traveling across the US on a motorcycle and the joy of Fuller meeting the love of his life.
Indeed, as it moves into grown-up adventures, covering personal breakthroughs and expressing gratitude for those who helped him, the book also becomes clearer about articulating Fuller’s life philosophy well. He muses on work, love, and life in an evolving manner. His tone is humble and gracious, exalting hard work and the wisdom of hindsight. Fuller frames perceived failures as “learnings,” infusing them with humor and delight. There are still moments in which the book moves a bit too fast to make room for the heavier emotions, and a few questions about what happened to Fuller’s family members linger. Still, this is a jubilant and generous memoir about what can be made of a single life.
A Horse-Drawn Sickle Bar Cutter is an inspiring memoir about incredible experiences, endured hardships, and finding reasons to be joyous and grateful.
Reviewed by
Natalie Wollenzien
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
