Customer Reviews

Prairie Gothic: The Story of a West Texas Family (Frances B. Vick)

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My family came to Texas when it still belonged to Spain and I grew up in South Texas in roughly the same generation as John Erickson. I saw my whole family in this book. They were all there, the outlaws and lawmen, the ranchers and shop keepers, the drunks and the Baptists. Erickson has what only the truly great writers have: the ability to tell a story. And it is a story of his family, perhaps the hardest subject for a writer to write about with competence. There are two distinct gifts I received from this book. The first was the honesty, tenderness and love with which Erickson treated the story of some of his relations who may not have been at the pinnacle of society's list of admirable role models. The second is the amazing strength, determination and grit of the women prior to our modern times. We have few of their equal today. Whether you're from Connecticut, Utah, Florida or Texas, this book is worth reading and rereading.

This is a well written book about a West Texas Family. John R. Erickson, creator of Hank the Cowdog Series, introduces us to his Texas family along with descriptive stories of life in the pioneering era of the West.