The Goodwin Library Book Club has been going well this last year with a focus on some brilliant Young Adult titles which allowed us some pretty intense discussions. We just read an amazingly well written and researched non-fiction book that almost reads like fiction, the "Worst Hard Time" by Timothy Egan.
Many of you have already read this book when it came out. If you haven't... it's the story of the dust bowl problems affecting the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle and the people that stuck it out during this epic disaster plus it was in the midst of the depression. Huge dust clouds that swept over and devastated people and animals and filled them with dust and dirt causing a disease called dust pneumonia that killed many elderly and infants and people who were caught out in storms sometimes suffocated. The book goes into the causes for this disaster and what was done to try and rectify things. It's chilling and fascinating and filled with memorable characters. It really makes you appreciate having enough water and not having to eat tumbleweeds!
NYTimes Book review
NPR story on the book and interview
Timothy Egan reads a selection
The Plow That Broke the Plains movie
And Woody Guthrie. I would have put "If You Ain't Got the Do Re Mi" here, but I wanted to end on a more upbeat note!
Thanks, Steph. Your recommendations are always spot on!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Benita! This was such a great book. I think you'd find it very interesting.
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