Not Just Any Land: A Personal and Literary Journey into the American Grasslands
Native Iowan Price goes on a journey to capture a sense of the American prairie, but instead of taking a predictable geographic and botanical trip, he brings readers on a literary one. His method of defining the physical, emotional, and spiritual meaning of the grasslands is to analyze the work of authors currently writing about the unique "place" the prairie continues to be, and to look closely at the authors themselves. Each of the four--Linda Hasselstrom, Dan O'Brien, William Least Heat-Moon, and Mary Swander--writes specifically and distinctly about this landscape, and, as Price reveals, each writer's focus and purpose, as often as not, is in contradiction to their counterparts. Price is a gifted writer, but perhaps he's most talented as an interviewer. Despite his admiration, he is able to draw from his subjects essential information that defines them and their work, and to shine a critical light on their arguments and justifications. His journey leaves him transformed, as it may well transform the reader.Danise HooverCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.