The History of Tree Roots

Howerton, Phillip

ISBN 10: 1936135183 / ISBN 13: 9781936135189

Published by Blazing Sapphire Press, 2015

About this Item

Pages intact with possible writing/highlighting. Binding strong with minor wear. Dust jackets/supplements may not be included. Stock photo provided. Product includes identifying sticker. Better World Books: Buy Books. Do Good.

Seller Inventory # 18978493-6

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The History of Tree Roots
• Publisher: Blazing Sapphire Press
• Publication Date: 2015
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1936135183
• ISBN 13: 9781936135189
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Very Good
• Weight: 0.311 pounds

About this title

Synopsis

Although these poems are informed by a lifetime of living in the Ozarks, readers will not find the over-wrought sentimentality, tired stereotypes, or visions of an indestructible, primeval wilderness that have too often colored writing set in this region. Instead, these poems recognize the attributes and faults of the past and present, challenge the clichéd representations of place, and engage the experiences of small and independent farmers--a group largely ignored in depictions of the region. These poems also move beyond the Ozarks by addressing a number of universal concerns, such as urban sprawl, the devaluation of manual labor, a diminished sense of place, the loss of small communities, and the fragility of the natural environment.

Review

Howerton looks aboutand reads the landscape . . . . He sees strata, as archaeologist might. . . .Time is never kind. Or unkind. It just is. And does.
                        Adam BrookeDavis
                        TrumanState University

Skilled at seeingbelow the surface, Howerton shows us how the people and landscape shape eachother in the sometimes lush and sweltering, sometimes stark and cold geographyof southern Missouri and northern Arkansas.
                        Mary Christy
                        Big Muddy: A Journal of the MississippiRiver Valley

Howerton's quiet, unassuming tone, eye for detail, and affiliation with mid-American farmland bring Ted Kooser and Jo McDougall to mind.
                Hope Coulter
                Author of The Wheel of Light
                Director of the Hendrix-Murphy Foundation Program at Hendrix College

Phil Howerton takes  . . . cliché-prone subjects and retrievesthem by refocusing, changing the angle of view, and noticing the less-noticed.. . . And from his noticing, we discover that even ordinary things haveun-ordinary depth.
                        Steve Wiegenstein
                        Author of Slant of Light, This Old World, and The Language of Trees

The poignant images in his verse disclose an intimacy born of experience, rather than mere observation.            Jim Hamilton            Author, editor, journalist