I won't hesitate to say that this is the best nonfiction book I have read this year so far. Although I've long claimed an interest in history, I don't usually get around to reading it. But once I picked up The Worst Hard Time, I had a hard time putting it down. The Dust Bowl is an event in American history that, as a high schooler a decade ago, I learned about in a paragraph or two, as something of a footnote to the wider story of the Great Depression. Timothy Egan more than fleshes out this footnote. He tells the broad story, of government policies and masses of people and agricultural practices. But just as important to his narrative is the human tale. We are introduced early on to a handful of everyday people, and throughout the book, Egan follows each of their stories, showing us not just what happened but what it was like to live through it. I rarely connect to a history book in the way I connected to this one. And while I occasionally shed a tear at the end of a novel, this may be the first time I have closed a book of nonfiction with teary eyes.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
I won't hesitate to say that this is the best nonfiction book I have read this year so far. Although I've long claimed an interest in history, I don't usually get around to reading it. But once I picked up The Worst Hard Time, I had a hard time putting it down. The Dust Bowl is an event in American history that, as a high schooler a decade ago, I learned about in a paragraph or two, as something of a footnote to the wider story of the Great Depression. Timothy Egan more than fleshes out this footnote. He tells the broad story, of government policies and masses of people and agricultural practices. But just as important to his narrative is the human tale. We are introduced early on to a handful of everyday people, and throughout the book, Egan follows each of their stories, showing us not just what happened but what it was like to live through it. I rarely connect to a history book in the way I connected to this one. And while I occasionally shed a tear at the end of a novel, this may be the first time I have closed a book of nonfiction with teary eyes.
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3 comments:
You have me intrigued. :)
I want to hear more about why you liked the book Wicked too, b/c I have been debating reading it!
I just finished reading "Nothing To Do But Stay" by Carrie Young about a Norwegian-American family living on the North Dakota plains during the dust bowl years. It's not specifically about the trials of the dust bowl, but rather about life on the plains during that time period. I enjoyed it. It would be a wonderful complement to the Timothy Egan book. I'll give it a try.
You should read Out of the Dust. It's YA, and it'll take you about an hour or two to read, but it's an AMAZING poetic novel about a girl growing up during the Dust Bowl. You know, in case you want a companion read. I'm interested in reading The Worst Hard Time now too.
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