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"An undervalued classic of American letters. It belongs on a bookshelf sandwiched between Twain's Life on the Mississippi and Thoreau's Walden." -- Ohio Magazine
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Shantyboat" is a beautiful, relevant story of free living.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Shantyboat: A River Way of Life (Paperback)
Shantyboat chronicles the adventures of Harlan and Anna Hubbard, who in the early 1950's, built a wooden houseboat (or shantyboat) out of a demolished house and drifted down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans. Spanning several years, the book describes winters spent drifting freely with the current and summers foraging for or growing what was needed. Much more than a travelogue, the journey is an experiment in living just outside the confines of a newly emerging technological civillization, but still in a fully "civillized" way. Their lives were hardly lived in seclusion. Instead they preferred the richness of friends, good meals gathered from abandoned or empty lands, and art: Harlan was a painter, Anna a concert pianist. The story of their days drifting is often filled with anecdotes about weather, fishing, or dogs, and slowly draws the reader in with a steady seasonal rhythm. Their time on the river represents the last days of the shantyboater, a breed of free spirit that quickly dissappeared after the second world war. Industrial growth along the waterways, large new dams, and toxic pollutants ensured the end of a tradition of free living. Today, our world continues to grapple with issues of technology and its impact on what makes us human. "Shantyboat" offers an alternative, or perhaps a perspective on what is really important.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a wonderful book,
By
This review is from: Shantyboat: A River Way of Life (Paperback)
This is a terrific book that I return to over and over. While the writing itself is not dramatic, it is filled with his love of the river and shantyboating. To paraphrase Wendell Barry, Hubbard makes practical what Thoreau made theoretical. Read it with Payne Hollow.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Shantyboat,
By Captain Success (Louisville, KY, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Shantyboat: A River Way of Life (Paperback)
Harlan Hubbard tells a real-life story of living his dream of building a shantyboat and floating it from Northern Kentucky to New Orleans. An artist himself, he tells a facinating story with great flair. Fans of Walden need to read this book.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
A river tugs at whatever is within reach, trying to set it afloat and carry it downstream. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Payne Hollow, Bisland Bayou, New Orleans, Mississippi River, Uncle Jim, Bizzle's Bluff, Baton Rouge, Blue River, Cumberland River, Uncle Bill, Obion River, Coney Island, Mud Ditch, Walter Berry, Art Moore, Coles Creek, Big Bone, Corn Creek, Henrico Bar, Island Queen, New Madrid, Number Eight, Bayou Sara, Carl Green, Civil War New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
A river tugs at whatever is within reach, trying to set it afloat and carry it downstream. Read the first page Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Payne Hollow, Bisland Bayou, New Orleans, Mississippi River, Uncle Jim, Bizzle's Bluff, Baton Rouge, Blue River, Cumberland River, Uncle Bill, Obion River, Coney Island, Mud Ditch, Walter Berry, Art Moore, Coles Creek, Big Bone, Corn Creek, Henrico Bar, Island Queen, New Madrid, Number Eight, Bayou Sara, Carl Green, Civil War New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 5
books:
4
books
cite this book:
- Payne Hollow by Harlan Hubbard in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Walden Pond (NE Landmarks) by Bonnie McGrath in Front Matter
- The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Bantam Classic) by Mark Twain in Front Matter
- Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Macmillan Readers) by M Twain in Front Matter
- Dead Man (Canongate Crime Classics) by Jon A. Jackson on page 324
- Handmade Houseboats: Independent Living Afloat by Russell Conder on page 107, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Wendell Berry and the Agrarian Tradition: A Common Grace (American Political Thought (University of Kansas)) by Kimberly K. Smith in Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Shantyboat On The Bayous by Harlan Hubbard in Front Matter (1), and Front Matter (2)
- Harlan Hubbard: Life and Work (Blazer Lectures) by Wendell Berry in Back Matter
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