Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land [Paperback]

John Graves (Author), Rick Bass (Introduction)

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Southern Methodist University Press; 1st Southern Methodist University Press Ed edition (December 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870744720
• ISBN-13: 978-0870744723
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #697,873 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to the land, Texas-style, December 13, 2003

By 

Ronald Scheer "rockysquirrel" (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land (Paperback)

In 1960, at the age of 40 and after many years wondering the globe, Texas-born writer John Graves bought a worn-out patch of land in the hills south of Fort Worth. It began as something of a retreat and became a life-long attachment. This book, published in 1974, is a humorously thoughtful description of how this new landowner becomes equally owned by the land he has settled on.

Not a long book, it reads at a leisurely pace, as Graves traces the history of the land, once fertile and grass-covered. He tells what he knows of the numerous tribes of Native Americans who once lived on it, including the fierce Comanches. Then he characterizes the first settlers, who knew next to nothing about land stewardship and cared less, exhausting it with poor farming techniques, overgrazing, and a single-crop economy--cotton. We learn of the toll taken in depleted soil, diminished flood control, and the spread of cedar and scrub brush across former prairie. And we learn of the descendants of these early settlers, diminished by reduced circumstances, some of them making a living by cutting down cedar brakes into fence posts.

Having established the history of the land, Graves takes us on a tour of his farm, which he calls Hard Scrabble, describing in turn the fields and streams, the plant and animal life, the weather. Then he describes the long, slow process of reclaiming what he can of his 400 acres, clearing the land, building a house, barn, and other outbuildings, learning stone masonry and carpentry as he goes. In connection with this subject, there is a discourse on the industriousness and workmanship of Mexican laborers, all of them illegal, who help him with building, fencing, and fighting back the growth of unwanted brush and cedar. On the subject of animal husbandry, he tells of raising cattle and goats. And in the investment of himself in all of these he ruminates on how they transform him and root this former world-traveler more firmly into a rural frame of mind.

Of the many things I enjoyed in this book, I especially liked his capturing of the way his country neighbors talk. Their points of view and temperaments are captured in quirky turns of phrase and syntax. An episode involving local fox hunters is a joy to read. Graves is in many ways a Texas version of E. B. White, transplanted from city to country and not only seeing this remote environment with fresh eyes but engaging physically with it, befriending the long-time inhabitants, and discovering a way of life only dimly understood by city-dwellers. Although Graves' writing style is more given to verbal flourishes, his wry humor and literary allusions remind one of White's collection of essays on living in Maine, "One Man's Meat."

I recommend this book to anyone interested in country life, Texas, subsistence farming, and natural history. As companions to "Hard Scrabble," I would recommend books by three other rancher/farmer writers: "Windbreak," by South Dakota writer Linda Hasselstrom, "A Collection of Cowboy Logic" by North Dakota writer Ryan Taylor, and "Sketches From the Ranch" by Montana writer Dan Aadland.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Man and His Land, August 12, 2005

By 

Susan Heller (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land (Paperback)

Texan John Graves is not a man to shy away from challenges: he invites them. When he bought his little piece of Texas, he clearly knew he was in for a big one, but I am not sure if he was aware of how his accumulated knowledge of this land would shape the man he was becoming. This book takes you through the process of a bumpy courtship and the resulting marriage between a man and his land.
Already armed with a deep appreciation of Nature, he was able to slowly coax renewed vigor into this misused patch of land through his gentle nurturing of it.

The book is full of his personal adventurers such as stone masonry, animal husbandry, carpentry, and all the hazards inherent in farm life. All presented without regret, with humor and modesty. Inevitably he laments the encroachment of more urban activities as they threaten his bucolic existence. Yet he speaks of the duality of his own urban interactions and compares them to the realities of his rural lifestyle.

This book to me was as much about the man John Graves as it is about his subject, "Hard Scrabble". Tough and complex, like his Patch of Land, he personifies the best Texas has to offer.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A meaning of life exploration through nature by WWII Generation Texan, October 9, 2010

By 

Bradley R Stephenson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Scrabble: Observations on a Patch of Land (Paperback)

After reading a recent article about John Graves in Texas Monthly, decided to check out his books Hard Scrabble and Goodbye to A River. I like his no-nonsense approach to life and his writing. I think he captures the feeling of folks born between 1900 and 1920, the WWII, Depression generation as his attitude and reflections remind me of things I've heard from folks of that generation. He definitely gives a Texas flavor given his roots in Texas and I'd guess there are still many folks like him scattered in the rural parts of Texas. The straight-forward, keep your head down, stoic, hardworking, keep your emotions to yourself characteristics of the WWII/ Depression generation contributed to our nation's success during the 20th century. Of course, Graves has his own, unique, take on things. But overall it is a good read, especially for those who find they also contemplate the meaning of life when they are surrounded by nature, and have a propensity to long for a simpler time without all of the distractions of modern life.