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challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death of parent, Classism
adventurous
informative
sad
fast-paced
A lot of information and beautifully written.
Who wants to read a story about drought? Actually, one of my aunts was the first employee at the University of Nebraska's Drought Mitigation Center (she was hired by the founder), so she might like to read it. But really, this book is truly about the people who survived the Dust Bowl -- ahh, the usefulness of a good title, right? Egan tells the stories of families who came to settle and homestead in northern Texas, Oklahoma, and western Kansas in the early 1920's. He tells the story of how bison were killed and driven off this land, so homesteaders could turn over the soil and plant wheat. How only after it was too late did anyone of any power realize how devastating this action would be, for the farmers, for the land, for the bison, for the native people who had lived in harmony (rather than at war) with nature. I found it interesting because I live in Nebraska, where the effects of the Dust Bowl were felt; because some of my ancestors were Volga Germans, and I recognized their traits as Egan described them (eating what we now know as "Runzas", an obsession with cleaning, etc.); because many of my own family members farmed during the times of the dust storms and grasshoppers and kept their own journals of these times. The best part of the book, however, is that Egan's writing is exceptionally readable. What could have been just a boring historical account comes alive, through people we might relate to, and seeing (with clear 20/20 hindsight) the mistakes of the past that we are still paying for today. It is almost enough to get this reader to run out and start hugging trees.
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Ooph! I can't force myself to finish this. I am interested in the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. It seems like it should be an engaging topic. Egan jumps around between multiple people's accounts. I would rather read memoirs of the people who lived through it in their entirety, than piece together bits and pieces. It 's hard to keep track of which person he is referring to. I would recommend watching PBS's American Experience about the dust bowl. It features accounts of people who actually lived though the time. Much more engaging.
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
Didn’t finish it before the audiobook was automatically returned, not worth putting a hold on it again.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Colonisation, Classism
Minor: Racism