Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl: A National Book Award Winner by Timothy Egan, Timothy Egan

23 reviews

libbyslibrary's review against another edition

4.0

emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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Incredibly thorough and beautifully told. I love that this was a narrative nonfiction but it was a little hard to follow at times because it jumped to so my different POVs within chapters. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism

aptkr's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Medical content, Medical trauma, Fire/Fire injury, Classism, Pandemic/Epidemic

kimberlynpeterson50's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

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As our new administration withdraws from the Paris Climate Agreement, LA is on fire, and snow covers New Orleans, one would think that cautionary tales like Egan’s exhaustive description of the dust bowl and all its causes would make a difference in how we as individuals and the government that guides us care for the land. But no. 
Egan paints a vivid if repetitive picture of the way humans tried to conquer a section of the Midwest and southern US, tearing out native grasses, attempting to farm, and hunkering down as the denuded earth blew up around them. After years of choking dust storms, deaths by dust pneumonia, and an inability to grow even the smallest amounts of food to sustain a family, still some folks and the federal government refused to understand. No amount of scientific evidence or well-researched explanations of what to do next helped. Fast forward 90 years, and we continue to exhibit this pattern of stubborn hubris and willful ignorance. 
This is not a book to make you feel hopeful about the future or even proud of how Americans faced challenges. Readers can admire the strength of people who survived terrible loss and learn about a dark spot in US history. But they may also leave this book wondering if things will ever get better. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death

raebelanger's review against another edition

4.0

informative reflective slow-paced

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Certainly in the running for the worst hard time. No arguing here. It has certainly reinforced my perspective that this is one of the US' worst ecological disasters that is seldom acknowledged.

Despite slowing down a bit towards the middle, this book captures how brutal The Dustbowl period was. Has me thinking about dirt differently.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death

Moderate: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Abandonment

Minor: Racism, Antisemitism

sdkluce's review against another edition

4.0

informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death

Moderate: Child death

Minor: Racial slurs, Racism, Antisemitism

kld2128's review against another edition

3.5

informative slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death

Minor: Racism

kayelcr's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death

jamelchior's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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This is a truly remarkable story that was barely mentioned when I learned US history in school. Through aggressive and unwise farming practices, encouraged by stupid policy decisions, we came within an eyelash of completely destroying the farmland and clean air of the western Plains. Through personal resilience and a seeming miracle, the nation came together to undo much of the damage.

The writing in this book is vivid and there are many individual stories and photographs. It’s one of the books that everyone should read so we can avoid repeating the mistakes of the past.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Colonisation

Environmental destruction/ecocide

clairephillips's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Classism

Moderate: Racial slurs, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Abandonment, Injury/Injury detail

jbosio's review against another edition

5.0

informative sad fast-paced

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An informative book about a forgotten time in American history, the Dust Bowl. I loved the personal stories of those who lived through that tragic time. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death