Customer Reviews

PrairyErth (A Deep Map): An Epic History of the Tallgrass Prairie Country

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read this book based on loving Blue Highways and recognizing Least Heat-Moon as a beautiful writer. I never thought that I would be enthralled with one county in one state; yet, I was truly engrossed each page of this book about one county in Kansas. Least Heat-Moon has a way of touching the minute specifics of the history of our country and does it in such a way that you feel you are there sipping tea or a beer with the neighbor next door each step of the way across the county. A wonderful study of Americana history and while the length of the book is possibly intimidating to many, those of us who really appreciate excellent writing will smile our way across the county inch by inch and wish there were more!

Ignorant, I found PrairyErth at a book-giveaway and would now have to count it among the best books I've ever read. The book is a thorough examination of a county that (possibly) many people would assume contains nothing but prairie grass. The point is how deep a map can be drawn of even the neglected places. Heat-Moon is amazing and inspiring, covering so many bases without over-stepping any of them. I had never even heard of Chase County but now I feel as though its every acre has been tattooed on my inner eyelids. Oh, and also: read it slow and steady. Pace yourself as Heat-Moon has..

I have just spent 2 days exploring Chase County, Kansas. I had read the book PrairyErth and found myself drawn to explore it for myself.

Driving along I50, I rejoiced at crossing the Chase County border. I had fun exploring the Chase County courthouse, eating at the Emma Chase cafe and meeting folks that have met Heat Moon. Seeing the small towns of Matfield Green, Bazaar and Wonsevu were particularly interesting.

The historical museum in Cottonwood Falls was a highlight for me, Pat, who is one of the volunteers there was extremly helpful and I found everyone I met and spoke too in Chase County as well as the whole of Kansas, a joy to meet and talk too.

I plan to read the book PrairyErth again and relive my 2 days spent in Chase County. I congratulate you Bill on a great book that placed in my soul a want to travel and discover Kansas for myself.

I read this book on a sun-drenched beach on the island of Raratonga, Cook Islands. I would recommend Raratonga to anyone seeking a paradise in which to relax. More highly recommended, however, is PrairyErth, which transported me with alarming ease from this lush, tropical eden to the limitless view of a Kansas prairie. PrairyErth is indeed a "Deep Map" and the tale it tells of a state, which can be synonymous with ennui, is remarkable. This book is a phenomenal achievement and one that should be read by every lover of books extant. It is a historical, philosophical, geographical, and geological masterpiece and renders the state of Kansas much brighter on any reader's radar screen.

While a student at the University of California at Santa Barbara, I had to take a Senior Seminar to complete my BA in English. We studied PrairyErth for several weeks and it was well worth the time spent. Least Heat-Moon is a gifted writer, and PrairyErth has been my favorite book for 6 years now. I have recommended this book to several people who were able to appreciate its detail. One must savor this book, and take it slow. It is so rich and beautiful, with such a sense of place, that I will always equate this work with those sunny, dreamy days in college...

Imagine my surprise to find a book by a major author about the county in Kansas where our family ranch is and in which both my parents grew up.

Let me tell you this much: Heat-Moon portrays this land and its people accurately. The level of detail is sufficiently great that some people with only passing interest or shorter attention spans will find it too much, but by my lights he did what he set out to do.

This book is a good way to understand the Midwest and we, its people. It demonstrates clearly what I've been saying for years: that those who drive through Kansas only at night on freeways at 80 mph should please keep driving--that way its unique character can be spared for those of us who appreciate it.

Furthermore, the author is a pleasant man, whom (by ridiculous coincidence) I happened to encounter at a Greek restaurant in Seattle one day. He was approachable and gracious. It was nice to find that his real personality was not different from his self-portrayal in PrairyErth.

I first picked up this book when a job change brought us into the Tallgrass Prairie region of Kansas. As it turns out, we settled in Cottonwood Falls, Chase County, Kansas! It was extraordinary to read PrairyErth, knowing that we would soon be experiencing this place first-hand.

There is truly nothing like living in this community and experiencing the sights, places and people described so richly in PrairyErth. William Least Heat-Moon knows this place well, and paints a picture that is as vivid and timeless as Chase County itself. As a "local", I've returned to this book time and time again.

Unfortunately, my job is now taking us away from here. If you've read the passage about Spring Street in Cottonwood Falls, then you know our home. This is truly a beautiful and extraordinary place; unique in the world. If you would like to experience the sense of community that my family and I have been so blessed with, give me a call.

In the heart of the Flint Hills of east-central Kansas lies Chase County, where the green grass waves across all horizons, and where a natural and human history of unbelievable richness belies the wide-open remoteness of the landscape. This history, except for one nationally noteworthy event (Kunute Rockne's demise in a plane crash), had become largely obscured by time and scattered to the prairie winds until reassembled masterfully by the author (WHLM).

A voluminous beast of a book at over 600 pages, PrairyErth is a true "deep map" as advertised, but much less imposing than its cumulative immensity would threaten. It is best read in no particular order, easily compartmentalized by chapters that have distinct identities. One easily can read the section on Bazaar, then Cottonwood Falls, then Matfield, and so forth, irrespective of their relative positions either in the book or on the map. WLHM fittingly divides this rectangular county into quadrangles, adeptly mixing autobiographical sketches of his sojourns by road and trail with all manner of compelling tales of the area's people and structures, from native tribes through European settlement to the early 1990s (press time). A historical treasure chest erupts from every chunk of PrairyErth, pouring forth tales of family feuds, western outlaws, railroad and cattle barons, Civil War partisans, raging prairie fires both natural and deliberate, governmental skullduggery and intrigue, the Rockne crash, buildings built and buildings burned, changes in flora and fauna over the centuries, and even the cherty limestone itself which gives the area its name.

I read this book after several trips through Chase County, and the attention to detail of WLHM was captivating. He described tallgrass and sky scenes just as I had photographed, and even found some of the same graffiti-laden stone fenceposts I had perused off of Highway 177. It makes one wonder what will be lost forever without similar "deep mapping" of any and every other county across the American plains, each of which must have a similarly complex and flavorful story. The only detraction or annoyance -- a minor one -- was WLHM's unabashed leftist slant to his occasional political commentary; but this will bother only a small fraction of readers. I recommend PrairyErth enthusiastically to anyone interested in the American prairie or Western history.

If only every county in the United States had as passionate and articulate a chronicler as William Least Heat-Moon.

I came to "PrairyErth" after having read and loved "Blue Highways." This tome--though longer and less expansive, geographically--possesses many of the qualities I admired in Heat-Moon's earlier work: the narrative tone (there's none of that stuffy, impersonal, third-person prose one finds in some travelogues; the author is himself part of the story), the occasional dips into philosophy and history; the candid interviews with "locals"; and the intense search for meaning in the most ordinary of places.

I have never been to Chase County, Kansas, but after spending a month or so accompanying Heat-Moon through the pages of his book, I feel as though I have. The book is subtitled "a deep map," and that is indeed what the author provides here. Square mile by square mile, the reader is introduced to the prairie, its topography and history, its residents and its wildlife. Heat-Moon correctly understands that the essence of a place is often best captured through anecdote and observation. There is nothing sweeping or grand about his narrative, and that's what makes "PrairyErth" such a delight. It's a detailed, intimate read; one almost has the feeling of looking over the author's shoulder (and back through history) as he ambles and rambles about the quadrangles of Chase County.

If there's one criticism I would offer, it's that Heat-Moon sometimes lapses into needless digressions about himself and the challenges he faced while writing the book. It struck me as a bit self-absorbed--as did the occasional Faulknerian stream-of-conscious, punctuationless prose. These stylistic excesses add little to what is otherwise a magnificent and fascinating travelogue.

I live in Lyon county, Kanzas, immediatly to the east of Chase County. When this book came out it stirred a great deal of controversy, needless to say. My first exposure to this work was an audio cassette version. I was curious and a bit skeptical about having an "outsider" review our area. To say I was pleased with what I encountered would be an understatement. Heat Moon has done a masterful job, better I think than BLUE HIGHWAYS. Since the book was published a park (of sorts) has been opened just west of Strong City. It consists of a wonderful old, limestone ranch house, the Spring Hill Ranch, which is being renovated and is open to the public and will be featured, eventually, as a "working ranch". In addition there is a small, stone schoolhouse and acre upon acre of hiking area amid the Tallgrass. Much of this development, I feel, is directly the result of this book. There is a dichotomy at work here in that, while pleased that travelers will come to know more about Kanzas, we are also cautious to keep away the crowds. Moon's work is, as is often expressed in the other reviews, a masterwork regardless of setting.