A review by cori_reads2
When a Dream Dies: Agriculture, Iowa, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s by Pamela Riney-Kehrberg

3.0

This is a great book about the farm crisis and how it impacted farm families in Iowa. Riney-Kehrberg is a great writer and she has easy, relaxed style that is wonderful to read. I have two complaints. First, the book lacks a thorough and consistent analysis. She tells us about the crisis but does provide much of an argument about the crisis. Second she uses a chronological approach and walks us through the crisis year by year which shows how the crisis unfolded over the decade. But I think a thematic approach might have worked better. The book tends to get redundant at times and a thematic approach might have provided a more consistent argument. These are small criticisms though to a book that is wonderfully written, interesting, and engaging.