Robert E. Gard (1910–1997)

This book has a split personality. Chapters retelling a significant year in his life alternate with essays about or from his later working years.
The personal history is very well written, personal and expressive. He was a farm boy in Kansas, youngest son of a farmer who was more than a little focused on the meaning of life. He sends his son off to find the wild prairie grass, which he regrets having demolished when he created his farm. It is 1931 and there is no work for anyone. He gets a ride with a couple of men who beat him up for the little money he has. He is hired for harvest help by an older woman farmer. As he travels he meets all sorts of people, learns who he can trust, and ponders right and wrong. He works on a road gang and sandbagging a flood zone. He finds people to admire and one of them helps him get into college.
The essays, on the other hand, are pompous and pretentious. He mourns that the Indians are gone forever. He lets us know that he has the inside track to what makes Wisconsinites different from residents of every other state. He envisions bringing culture to all the isolated rural residents. All we need is a chance to write our own plays, our own stories.… (mehr)