House of Earth
-
- 65,00 kr
-
- 65,00 kr
Publisher Description
Newly discovered, and with an Introduction by Johnny Depp and Douglas Brinkley, legendary folk singer and American icon Woody Guthrie’s only finished novel: a prophetic and powerful portrait of two hardscrabble farmers struggling to survive the elements and other powerful forces of destruction during the Dust Bowl.
Filled with the homespun lyricism and authenticity that have made his songs legendary, this is the story of an ordinary couple’s dream of a better life and their search for love and meaning in a corrupt world. Tike and Ella May Hamlin struggle to plant roots in the arid land of Texas. Living in a precarious wooden shack, they yearn for a sturdy house that will protect them from the treacherous elements. Thanks to a government pamphlet, Tike has the know-how to build a simple adobe dwelling, a structure made from the land itself—fireproof, windproof, a house of earth. The land on which Tike and Ella May live and work on is not theirs, due to larger forces beyond their control—including ranching conglomerates and banks—and their adobe house remains painfully out of reach.
A story of rural realism and progressive activism, HOUSE OF EARTH is a searing portrait of hardship and hope set against a ravaged landscape. Combining the moral urgency and narrative drive of John Steinbeck with the erotic frankness of D.H. Lawrence, it is a powerful tale of America from one of our greatest artists.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Guthrie's multifaceted legacy lives on (and combines beautifully with his affecting 1930 autobiography Bound for Glory) with this posthumous Texas plains novel set during the Dust Bowl era. The story is prefaced in a long-winded introduction by Brinkley, a media historian, and Depp, who polished the rough manuscript. Spearheading this tale of woe is Tike and Ella May Hamlin, a hardworking farmer and his pregnant wife, both subsisting in a rickety shack on land prized by a sharecropper. Tike dreams of building an adobe home to circumvent the use of pricey lumber and avoid the bank. The couple's interactions, including graphic, extended erotic scenes, form the crux of a highly resonant, symbolic novel rife with themes of nature's wrath, the misery of poverty, and the proletarian's struggle against the churning machines of commerce. With dialogue rich in "hillbilly" vernacular and a story steeped in folk traditions, Guthrie's drought-burdened, dust-blown landscape swirls with life. The book is finely supplemented with a biographical time line, companion discography, and artwork licensed by the Woody Guthrie Archives. His heritage as folksinger, artist, and observer of West Texas strife lives on through these distinct pages infused with the author's wit, personality, and dedication to Americana.
