The Worst Hard Time

My understanding of the period and events referred to as the Dust Bowl came exclusively from my elementary education and the novels The Grapes of Wrath and Whose Names Are Unknown. In a nutshell, the narrative is that over-farming caused bad conditions throughout the plains making life and farming difficult. That's all basically true, but wow, there's so much more to the story.

The Worst Hard Time gives a more complete story. Over-farming is one thing; completely changing the landscape of thousands of square miles in a matter of years is another. Bad dust storms is one thing; massive clouds of pure blackness that spread from state to state, preventing individuals from seeing anything but random sparks of static electricity for an entire day is another. A difficult life is one thing; the near improbability of survival is another.

As a reader primarily of character-driven fiction, this wasn't the most riveting read, but it was very informative. I do wish Egan had spent more time developing the various players, as they mostly blend together for me as a reader. Perhaps the individuals didn't matter so much in the telling of this tale, but the lack of individual connection did make it difficult for me to attach to anyone.