Bad Land: An American Romance - Hardcover

Raban, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679442545 ISBN 13: 9780679442547

Publisher: Pantheon, 1996

Synopsis

Seduced by the government's offer of 320 acres per homesteader, Americans and Europeans rushed to Montana and the Dakotas to fulfill their own American dream in the first decade of this century. Raban's stunning evocation of the harrowing, desperate reality behind the homesteader's dream strips away the myth--while preserving the romance--that has shrouded our understanding of our own heartland.

About this title

Review:

Part history, part modern-day travelogue, Bad Land attempts to locate the dry plains of eastern Montana and the Dakotas in the American imagination. Jonathan Raban (author of the best-selling Old Glory) explores deserted homesteads and listens to the persevering descendants of the rugged pioneers who settled this territory. Toward the end of his eclectic book, Raban tries to explain why a place like this would appeal to people like Ted Kaczynski, a.k.a. the Unabomber. The best passages recall Paul Theroux in top form.

From the Publisher:

What other writers are saying about Bad Land:

Paul Theroux, author of My Other Life, calls it a "...masterpiece in which we clearly see the vivid paradoxes of America's history and Raban on his own personal journey, as one of our wisest and most articulate travellers.

"Because Mr. Raban is both English and a marvelous observer, he sees aspects of the plains invisible to the native-born. At once expansive and intimate, Bad Land is a valuable addition to the literature of the West."
-Ian Frazier, author of Great Plains

"Bad Land is uncommon in its conception and its exquisite perceptiveness...Raban is searching and compassionate, even mirthful, as captivated by his story as an African explorer. And he is at all times eloquent. His writer's zeal is the zeal of a convert to America, but his vision of those who wished to win the West but mostly lost it is unimpaired and true."
-Richard Ford, author of Independence Day

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0679442545
• ISBN 13: 9780679442547
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 324