A Boyhood in the Dustbowl 1926-1934

Rutland's (American history, U. of Virginia) memoir of his boyhood in Okemah, Oklahoma in the 1920s provides a first-hand account of the Great Depression's dust bowl, Prohibition, and the oil bust. Historical references are particularly interesting coming from the perspective of a young boy who, as Tony Hillerman notes in his introduction, did not know he was a "victim" "We lacked psychologists to inform us that we were losers because of childhood deprivation and family dysfunction." The "charm" of these reminisces underpins an astute socio-historical recording of the era. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.