A Nickel's Worth of Skim Milk: A Boy's View of the Great Depression (Shawnee Books) - Softcover

Hastings, Mr. Robert J

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0809313057 ISBN 13: 9780809313051

Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986

Synopsis

Told from the point of view of a young boy, this account shows how a family “faced the 1930s head on and lived to tell the story.” It is the story of grow­ing up in southern Illinois, specifically the Marion, area during the Great Depression. But when it was first published in 1972 the book proved to be more than one writer’s memories of depression-era southern Illinois.

“People started writing me from all over the country,” Hastings notes. “And all said much the same: ‘You were writing about my family, as much as your own. That’s how I remember the 1930s, too.’”

As he proves time and again in this book, Hast­ings is a natural storyteller who can touch upon the detail that makes the tale both poignant and univer­sal. He brings to life a period that marked every man, woman, and child who lived through it even as that national experience fades into the past.

About this title

About the Author

Robert J. Hastings is a retired editor and Baptist minister. During his retirement he has concentrated on creative writing, short-term teaching in colleges and seminaries, storytelling, and a syndicated radio program.

Review

“ANickels Worth of Skim Milk gives the reader a million dollars worth of memories. You are taken into the family and see the depression through the young boy’s eyes.”―Lindsay (CA) Gazette

“Skim Milk is a charming book. Hastings captures the moods, the petty visions, and heart-felt ambitions of a small town in southern Illinois during the depres­sion...”―Illinois Issues

Edition details

• Publisher: Southern Illinois University Press
• Publication date: 1986
• ISBN 10: 0809313057
• ISBN 13: 9780809313051
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 168