Customer Reviews

Dust to Eat: Drought and Depression in the 1930s

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After hearing author on NPR, ordered Mr. Cooper's book and found it to be a concise and poignant account. I recommend it highly. Not a pleasant "read," but the book helped me gain new appreciation for the grit (no pun intended) of those who lived through one of the most-challenging periods of American history. Left me feeling thankful my grandparents resided outside the most affected Dust Bowl areas.

A very well written, gritty little slice of American history. If you even wondered why people like me don't like the term "Okie", this book will explain it. If you can read this book and not feel deeply for those folks who went through the Dust Bowl of the early 30's, you have a granite heart. Highly recommended, especially for young people who are used to having it all right now.

I had family who went through the Dust Bowl out in the Oklahoma Panhandle and Southwest Kansas, so I've always been interested in anything to do with the "Dirty Thirties." The same friend who recommended Timothy Egan's THE WORST HARD TIME (non-fiction) and Robert Boyd Delano's awesome THE HAPPY IMMORTALS (fiction), told me about Michael Cooper's DUST TO EAT. All are rooted in the "Dusters."

Kudos to each of these powerful authors who have brought the people of the Dust Bowl alive!

As a musician who tours at least 200 days out of every year and spends time in the studio when I'm not on the road, I find that if I don't keep a number of interesting books with me on the road, my brain completely turns to mush.

One of the books I read recently was The Happy Immortals, a great novel set partially in the Dust Bowl years.

I'd traveled through and flown over the Oklahoma Panhandle many times, but didn't know a lot about the area or what this land had gone through.

Anyway, the interest from that novel led to a search for historical books about the Dust Bowl, including this one by Michael L. Cooper.

Dust to Eat is a great, sad, gritty, real, sometimes overwhelming, unforgettable, and intense read.

Kudos to the Mr. Cooper for a job well done!

BTW, two more excellent historical books on the Dust Bowl and the Oklahoma Panhandle are Letters from the Dust Bowl and Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s.

Terrific resource material. Check out Google>Books. It is a feature under the heading "More". It's next to the search box. It's like an online library. It allows you to take a sneak peek at many books and helps you to create a book list for research. Enjoy!