August 3, 2007

The Worst Hard Time - Timothy Egan

This is subtitled: The Untold Story of Those who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl.

This is the fascinating account of the Dust Bowl of the Thirties, told in the words of those who actually lived through it. The author obviously did extensive research and must have spent hours interviewing these people. Their stories are unforgettable and illuminated this era of history for me. It provided another angle on the New Deal legislation that I found helpful.

One quibble I have with the book is that it occasionally goes backward in time: One chapter will finish out 1935, then the next chapter will go back to 1934. I found this a bit confusing at times, and frustrating as well, because I wanted to know what happened next! Overall I found it quite engaging and enjoyable.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Worst Hard Time is one of my current books. I'd put it aside for a while but plan to finish it by the end of the weekend. Have you read Karen Hesse's Out of the Dust? It's a lovely companion piece to this.

janiejane said...

I haven't read it, but it is now on my list to get! Thanks for the tip!