Book Review: House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

November 6, 2013

About:
House of Earth by Woody Guthrie is a recently published novel by the famed folk singer. The novel was finished in 1947 and is the only fully realized novel of the author.

The pub­lisher is giv­ing away one copy of this book –to enter fill out the Raf­fle­copt­ter form at the end of the post.

  • 320 pages
  • Publisher: HarperLuxe
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0062253425

Book Review: House of Earth by Woody Guthrie

My rating for House of Earth – 3

Buy this book in paper or electronic format

Thoughts:
House of Earth by Woody Guthrie is much like the singer’s lyrics, full of criticism and powerful imagery of the American farmers who suffered mightily during the dust bowl.

The book was a strange one, poetic and lyrical on some pages, yet annoying on others. Parts of the novel were fun to read, others where difficult to get through.

The two main characters seem to be in love, but Guthrie goes on for pages after pages writing sex scenes, which I’m sure would have shocked people in the 40s, but today, with “erotica” being a mainstream genre, they are no longer so. It seems as if Guthrie confused sex and love, physical closeness with emotional dependency.

Of course, when you work the land many hours a day and take few showers a week/month, maybe physical intimacy is all you have.

That being said, Guthrie certainly knows how to tell a story, his description of the land and the struggles the people go through are poignant and some of them even relevant to this day.

The highlight of the book, for me, was the essay introduction by famed historian Douglas Brinkley and actor Johnny Depp. The essay put the book in the context of the times, helped me understand the narrative, intentions and state of mind of the author.

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Synopsis:
Ella May and “Tike” Hamlin live and farm on the Texas Panhandle. The couple has a wooden farm shack, however Tike wants a better house that will protect his family from the elements.

Tike buys a government pamphlet and learns how to build an adobe house. The structure will be made of bricks which are baked from the earth itself and is fireproof, windproof, bug proof, cold proof and… Dust Bowl proof. However Ella May and Tike have to contend with powerful forces beyond their control, ranch conglomerates, banks and more.

Buy this book in paper or electronic format

Give­away

  • Give­away ends: Novem­ber 13, 2013

  • US/Canada Ship­ping Addresses Only

  • No PO Boxes

  • Win­ners will have 24 hours to write back with their address, oth­er­wise an alter­nate win­ner will be picked

Congratulatioins: saubleb@

TLC Book Tour for House of Earth by Woody Guthrie:

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer:I got this book for free fromTLC Book Tours.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account

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One Comment

  • 9103a1771d28397bf776d863e883a413
    Heather J. @ TLC Book ToursNovember 8, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    I really appreciate when there is an introduction that puts a book in the proper context for new readers.

    Thanks for being on the tour! I’m featuring your review on TLC’s Facebook page today.

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