kindlereads's review against another edition
4.0
It was pretty terrible to go through this. It makes me want to go and see these places to try and understand.
ckshaw13's review against another edition
3.0
I don't really know what I disliked about this book. I'm usually s fan of historical books, but this one didn't cut it for me.
sarahcoller's review against another edition
3.0
This was a very interesting and informative read---I learned a few things and definitely had a shift of perspective about this time in history. I'd been told that my great grandmother and her family went through the Dust Bowl but looking at the timeline compared to where they were doing those years, it looks like they were probably more financially affected by the lack of work than by the bulk of the dust storms themselves. Her family left Beaver County, Oklahoma (in the heart of the Dust Bowl) in the 1920s and went east to Enid (east of the worst of it by a couple hundred miles, according to this book). So they were out of there long before the dusters started hitting, but definitely would have felt the financial fall out of that mixed with the other effects of the Great Depression. From what I can tell, that family began to move west to Oregon in the early 1950s, with my great-grandmother arriving within 10 years of that.
Reading about the beginning of the depression reminded me of last summer when the government was buying truckloads of produce from farmers and distributing it free all over the country due to the effects of COVID. As much as I say I don't want to rely on the govt. for anything, it was sad and a little scary to read about what these people went through before the advent of govt. aid. I suppose I'm appreciative that the help is there for those who need it, but I also think it's heavily abused and should be more strictly regulated.
I was surprised that more mention wasn't made of the correlation between the "plagues" suffered during this time and the Exodus plagues. I imagine that was hot on most minds, being the Bible belt and all. I also learned that "No Man's Land" is a real place!
I was surprised by the naiveté of many who tried all kinds of strange things to induce rain. Scientific methods of the time included dynamiting the sky, plowing to create atmospheric disturbances, laying out dead snakes on fences, and trusting the steam from trains to make the skies weep. In addition to that, I think there was a bit of ignorance in Washington about how big of an area they were dealing with. One solution to the problem of blowing dust was to just asphalt the entire Great Plains, and Roosevelt had the brainy idea to plant a forest over the entire area to change the climate. Oy!
But speaking of naive... I was really interested and surprised to learn how big of an issue static electricity was during the storms. I didn't realize it built up with such strength as to make a couple of friends fall over shaking hands!
This was a super interesting read and really caused me to think about the things I freak out about nowadays. Nothing I've ever gone through compares to the things these brave (and maybe stubborn?) people went through.
Reading about the beginning of the depression reminded me of last summer when the government was buying truckloads of produce from farmers and distributing it free all over the country due to the effects of COVID. As much as I say I don't want to rely on the govt. for anything, it was sad and a little scary to read about what these people went through before the advent of govt. aid. I suppose I'm appreciative that the help is there for those who need it, but I also think it's heavily abused and should be more strictly regulated.
I was surprised that more mention wasn't made of the correlation between the "plagues" suffered during this time and the Exodus plagues. I imagine that was hot on most minds, being the Bible belt and all. I also learned that "No Man's Land" is a real place!
I was surprised by the naiveté of many who tried all kinds of strange things to induce rain. Scientific methods of the time included dynamiting the sky, plowing to create atmospheric disturbances, laying out dead snakes on fences, and trusting the steam from trains to make the skies weep. In addition to that, I think there was a bit of ignorance in Washington about how big of an area they were dealing with. One solution to the problem of blowing dust was to just asphalt the entire Great Plains, and Roosevelt had the brainy idea to plant a forest over the entire area to change the climate. Oy!
But speaking of naive... I was really interested and surprised to learn how big of an issue static electricity was during the storms. I didn't realize it built up with such strength as to make a couple of friends fall over shaking hands!
This was a super interesting read and really caused me to think about the things I freak out about nowadays. Nothing I've ever gone through compares to the things these brave (and maybe stubborn?) people went through.
sheritolley's review against another edition
3.0
This book was not a page turner, but well worth the time. What these people went through? Oh my gosh! All I can say is it made me thankful. The wind might blow for ten days straight here in Twin Falls, but it's not dropping tons of dirt. People are not dying of dust peumonia, or living off of pickled tumbleweed. Our country might be going through a hard time right now, but what those people in the Dust Bowl suffered was horrible, and I hope it is never repeated.
lpip's review against another edition
2.0
So fascinating for the first few chapters, and then just repetitive for the next 200 pages. Kept thinking something new would happen, but it never did. Definitely sparked my interest in the dust bowl though!
ela_lee_'s review against another edition
3.0
“100 million acres had lost most of its topsoil, nearly half had been essentially destroyed and could not be farmed again. Thinks about the size - an area stretching 500 miles north to south and 300 miles east to west was drifting and dusted. Two thirds of the total area of the Great Plains had been damaged by severe wind erosion...an environmental disaster bigger than anything in American history.”
3.5 stars rounded down to 3, mainly because I found the book pretty repetitive, a bit too long, and don’t feel like I learned much more information after the second half. However, I’m still glad to have read this book; I found it intensely interesting and descriptive of an area and time period that is often overlooked.
The Dust Bowl era has always intrigued me and I had no idea just how much the government was involved with colonizing and destroying this area (shocker.) The government literally lied and convinced people to move here to start a new, enriched life when the towns hadn't even broken ground yet. People were ordered to murder millions of buffalo and rabbits because they thought these animals were destroying/taking up their farm land, they pulled up tons of grasslands in order to force their agricultural habits on an area that doesn’t naturally grow their crops. The Dust Bowl was a completely man-made disaster caused by Americans choosing not to educate themselves and listen to environmental/agricultural experts of the time. We destroyed the land and soil and wouldn’t listen to nature: The answer was there in the land but we ignored it.
3.5 stars rounded down to 3, mainly because I found the book pretty repetitive, a bit too long, and don’t feel like I learned much more information after the second half. However, I’m still glad to have read this book; I found it intensely interesting and descriptive of an area and time period that is often overlooked.
The Dust Bowl era has always intrigued me and I had no idea just how much the government was involved with colonizing and destroying this area (shocker.) The government literally lied and convinced people to move here to start a new, enriched life when the towns hadn't even broken ground yet. People were ordered to murder millions of buffalo and rabbits because they thought these animals were destroying/taking up their farm land, they pulled up tons of grasslands in order to force their agricultural habits on an area that doesn’t naturally grow their crops. The Dust Bowl was a completely man-made disaster caused by Americans choosing not to educate themselves and listen to environmental/agricultural experts of the time. We destroyed the land and soil and wouldn’t listen to nature: The answer was there in the land but we ignored it.
sueking365's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Audio. Informative non-fiction book about the Dust Bowl, a period of American history which I know little about. Told through the stories of various real people who settled the plains and tried to make a go of life there, despite hardships, weather, and land practices that pretty much destroyed the soil.
statman's review
3.0
I really didn't know much about the dust bowl and this was a great coverage of the topic, often told through the eyes of those who lived through it. Quite the tragedy that could have been prevented and that has lessons for us in our day.
cdlindwall's review against another edition
4.0
Every person who doesn't believe in the importance of environmentalism should read this book — every person who think humans don't have the ability to shift the natural balance of the ecosystem and set off a cataclysmic chain of events. The Dirty 30s was America's worst natural disaster, and it was man-made. Fool-hardy farmers didn't know any better and likely wouldn't have believed warnings if they'd heard them. They stripped the land, then left it, and let it blow. It took only a few decades to destroy an ecosystem that had taken tens of thousands of years to perfect. Like that, gone.
We forget that nature doesn't care about our Manifest Destiny — America's right to plow and farm and reap and conquer everywhere we possibly can. Across the West and through the golden grass of the Midwest. Nature is bigger than our plans. It certainly is indifferent to our plans.
Egan does a wonderful job explaining to an East Coast, 21st-century reader how the catastrophe happened. He also vividly describes what it's like to live in Oklahoma during the Great Depression and be literally choking and dying on the swirling, ubiquitous dust in your air. It's something that's hard to grasp for most of us. In fact, few even know what caused America's worst natural disaster in the "Dirty 30s." Some don't even know it happened.
So for that, Egan won me over. Creative non-fiction is my favorite — taking an historical event and presenting it to me with beautiful narratives and prose. He does that well. I do think it got a bit repetitive in the second half. I wish Egan had taken the last third of the book and told more about how the "Dust Bowl" did eventually become a habitable place — the transition from the 30s to now.
I was impressed, though, with the number of creative ways Egan described the dust. I'll share a few:
"...layers of dust, one wave after the other, an aerial assault..."
"...this anemic, fly-away ground..."
"...these blowing prairie states..."
"...the nation's midsection became a sandbox."
"...the dreary routine of life in a dusty fog."
"...a fall without color, just as it had been a spring and summer of grey."
"...the galloping flatlands..."
"...the black funnel dancing..."
"...the moving mountain of dirt..."
"...the blackness..."
He's a great writer and an even better reporter. This book works beautifully as an historical recounting of an epically hard time in American life. But it also serves wonderfully as a modern warning about the balance of nature and the risk we take when disturbing it. If you aren't familiar with this time period, this book is a great introduction. I also recommend viewing the photographs/watching the documentary mentioned in Egan's book, as they will help bring to life some of the scenes he describes.
We forget that nature doesn't care about our Manifest Destiny — America's right to plow and farm and reap and conquer everywhere we possibly can. Across the West and through the golden grass of the Midwest. Nature is bigger than our plans. It certainly is indifferent to our plans.
Egan does a wonderful job explaining to an East Coast, 21st-century reader how the catastrophe happened. He also vividly describes what it's like to live in Oklahoma during the Great Depression and be literally choking and dying on the swirling, ubiquitous dust in your air. It's something that's hard to grasp for most of us. In fact, few even know what caused America's worst natural disaster in the "Dirty 30s." Some don't even know it happened.
So for that, Egan won me over. Creative non-fiction is my favorite — taking an historical event and presenting it to me with beautiful narratives and prose. He does that well. I do think it got a bit repetitive in the second half. I wish Egan had taken the last third of the book and told more about how the "Dust Bowl" did eventually become a habitable place — the transition from the 30s to now.
I was impressed, though, with the number of creative ways Egan described the dust. I'll share a few:
"...layers of dust, one wave after the other, an aerial assault..."
"...this anemic, fly-away ground..."
"...these blowing prairie states..."
"...the nation's midsection became a sandbox."
"...the dreary routine of life in a dusty fog."
"...a fall without color, just as it had been a spring and summer of grey."
"...the galloping flatlands..."
"...the black funnel dancing..."
"...the moving mountain of dirt..."
"...the blackness..."
He's a great writer and an even better reporter. This book works beautifully as an historical recounting of an epically hard time in American life. But it also serves wonderfully as a modern warning about the balance of nature and the risk we take when disturbing it. If you aren't familiar with this time period, this book is a great introduction. I also recommend viewing the photographs/watching the documentary mentioned in Egan's book, as they will help bring to life some of the scenes he describes.