I am about half way through Timothy Egan’s book, The Worst Hard Time. I decided to read it after hearing him interviewed by, I think, Terry Gross on NPR. I’m a little weak on modern U.S. owing to my early education having occured outside of the United States. I, of course, had heard of the Dust Bowl. I took an 11th grade history class that touched on the subject. However, what our class never discussed was the grave hubris that caused it. I must admit that I had very little idea of the scope of the Dust Bowl-how many acres of land destroyed; how many people affected by extreme poverty; how many people killed by dust pneumonia and other respitory ailments. Egan’s book explains in dancing prose the terrible events of the dirty thirties and the foolishness that caused it.
Egan’s book ought to cause all of us to ponder the grave consequences of human folly as it relates to the cultivation of the land.
More to follow
