A robust and exalted tale of the American land, its people, its past, and hopes. PrairyErth (an old geologic term for the soils of our central grasslands) captures the essence of the American tall-grass country. Only a writer of William Least Heat-Moon's gifts could find in a single Kansas county the narrative of an epic, the nonfiction equivalent of the great American novel . . . a masterpiece . . . a magnificent and unique tour (Robert Penn Warren). The book describes a 13,000-mile, 38-state automobile journey into America. Now, Heat-Moon has pulled to the side of the road and set off on foot. Instead of traveling endless miles, he takes us on an exploration of time and space, landscape and history, in one fragment of the Great Plains. Most American readers know 3 things about Kansas: it is flat, it has something to do with "The Wizard of Oz" and the events of "In Cold Blood" took place there. 3 illusions: the first is a life, the second a fairy tale, the third a nightmare. Chase County is sparsely populated in the Flint Hills of central Kansas, the last remaining grand expanse of tall grass prairie in America, and PrairyErth lovingly details its 744 square miles and 3,000 souls till it looms as large as the universe while remaining as intimate as a village. The tale is filled with voices past and present, filled with anecdotes, gossip from its bars and cafes, Native American lore, and rueful tales of man's inhumanity to man and nature, and of nature's indifference to humanity. There are tales of a farm couple swept aloft by a tornado; an Indian recipe to avert lightning; a century-old unsolved murder; interviews with a retired post-misstress, a cowboy, a quarryman, a coyote hunter, a young feminist rancher, and more.
PrairyErth
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Author: William Least Heat-Moon
Binding: Hardcover
ISBN:
Details:
Author: William Least Heat-Moon
Binding: Hardcover
Number Of Pages: 624
Release Date: 01-12-1991
Languages: English
Package Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 2.4 inches
