The Bones of Plenty
Автор: Lois Phillips Hudson
Год издания:
Lois Phillips Hudson eloquently portrays George Custer, a determined and angry man who must battle both the land and the landlord; his hard-working wife Rachel; and their young and vulnerable daughter Lucy. Through their compelling story looms a sense of a whole nation's tragedy during the Great Depression.<br /><br />Reviews of The Bones of Plenty:<br /><br />"It is possible . . .that literary historians of the future will decide that The Bones of Plenty was the farm novel of the Great Drought of the 1920s and 1930s and the Great Depression. Better than any other novel of the period with which I am familiar, Lois Phillips Hudson's story presents, with intelligence and rare understanding, the frightful disaster that closed thousands of rural banks and drove farmers off their farms, the hopes and savings of a lifetime in ruins about them."—New York Times Book Review<br /><br />"Hudson does a superb job of revealing the physical texture of farm life on the prairie—its sounds, smells, colors, sensations. Then she goes further, examining the spiritual texture as well. Her characters are bound to each other and to their land in a kind of harsh intimacy from which there is no relief. Weather, poverty, anger, and pride are the forces that drive them and ultimately wear them down. . . Like the best books of any era, it convinces us of its characters' enduring humanity, and surprises us, again and again, with the depth of emotion it makes us feel."—Minneapolis Star Tribune<br /><br />"At her best, Lois Phillips Hudson can make the American Ordeal of the 1930s so real that you can all but feel the gritty dust in your teeth."—Omaha World-Herald
Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around
Автор: Cheryl Wagner
Год издания:
Print and public-radio journalist Wagner describes rebuilding after Hurricane Katrina…Despite Kafkaesque experiences with the infamous bureaucratic mess that threatened to undo New Orleans once and for all, the couple held on to their optimism for the city and their little piece of it. Wagner captures the nostalgia, the heartbreak and the friendships spawned in Katrina's turbulent aftermath with raw emotional honesty free of sentimentality. Unflinching, humorous and heartfelt. – Kirkus Reviews The cliche New Orleans gets into people's blood happens to be very true–just not always convenient. For Cheryl Wagner, along with her indie-band boyfriend, a few eccentric pals, and two aging basset hounds, abandoning the city she loved wasn't an option. This is the story of Cheryl's disturbing surprise view from her front porch after she moved back home to find everything she treasured in shambles. . .and her determined, absurd, and darkly funny three-year journey of trying to piece it all back together. In the same heartfelt and hilarious voice that has drawn thousands of listeners to her broadcasts on Public Radio International's This American Life, Wagner shares her unique yet universal story of rebuilding a life after it's been flooded, dried, and died. . . «Dark, funny, generous and jarring–occasionally tragic but never sentimental.» –Paul Tough, author of Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada's Quest to Change Harlem and America "A wonderful, touching, thoughtful, crazy, loving book." –Frederick Barthelme, author of Waveland and eleven other works of fiction including Elroy Nights, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award and a New York Times Notable Book «A wild, blood and guts lived-to-tell-all memoir.» –Porochista Khakpour, author of Sons and Other Flammable Objects "The book would be heartbreaking if it weren't so funny, so clear-eyed, and so beautifully fierce." –James Whorton Jr., author of Frankland "I love it." – Pete Jordan, author of Dishwasher: One Man's Quest to Wash Dishes in Fifty States "Imagine if Jack Kerouac had lived through the flood and wrote you a long, personal letter from the wreckage." –Jonathan Goldstein, author of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! and Host of CBC's and PRI's radio show WireTap "Wagner writes with honesty and humor." –Annie Choi, author of Happy Birthday or Whatever "A work of art, unsparing of everything, including itself." –Jack Pendarvis, author of Awesome
