Nothing but the Dirt

Stories from an American Farm Town
Erscheinungsjahr 2022
ISBN: 978-0-7006-3345-6
Verlag: University Press of Kansas

Buch, Englisch, 256 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 226 mm, Gewicht: 318 g

In this work of creative nonfiction, author Kate Benz provides an intimate look at the present-day residents of Courtland, Kansas (population 285), a town whose economy depends almost entirely on agriculture.Through charming, first-person accounts, Nothing but the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town tells the whole story of life in Courtland, bucking the “Rural America is dying” narrative that so often proliferates national headlines about small-town USA.Throughout the book, Benz paints a picture of community that is unwilling to give up on each other. Macro-level issues such as rising tariffs, operation costs versus sinking commodity prices, and infusions of federal farm subsidies affect the locals’ daily livelihood, but it’s their love of their community that continues their collective efforts to keep Main Street open for business and Courtland on the map.These are the stories from one corner of rural America, told through the people who live there: the fourth-generation farmers, the young professionals, the transplants, the small business owners (many of whom are women)—a community that is nuclear, blended, straight, gay, red, blue, religious, and anything but. Young people who grew up in Courtland are moving back to raise their kids there, but instead of farming, they are opening breweries, boutiques, marketing agencies, or hair salons. They love rural life but want a new way to define it.Courtland is a community that is unwaveringly determined to keep their corner of rural America not only alive but thriving, refusing to let challenges define or deter them. Instead, they continuously find creative ways to overcome, adapt, improve, and move forward.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Benz, Kate

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziologie Allgemein Demographie, Demoskopie
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Regional- & Stadtgeschichte
• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Agrarsoziologie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

- PrefacePreface
- Acknowledgments
- Early Fall
- The Coffee
- The Morning Coffee: Friday
- The Farmers: Steve Brown
- The Pastor
- The New Business: Soul Sister Ceramics
- The Farmers: Hootie Rayburn
- The Farmer’s Wife
- The Young Couple
- The Lunch Spot
- The Mayor
- The Newspaper
- The Liar's Bench
- The Gas Station
- The Lutherans
- Spring
- The Good-bye
- The Morning Coffee: Friday
- The Farmers: Kenny Joerg
- The Ladies
- The Entrepreneur
- The Day Care
- The Ranchero
- The Date Night
- The Body
- The Transplant
- The Morning Coffee: Saturday
- The Average Sunday
- The Morning Coffee: Monday
- The Memories
- The Morning Coffee: Wednesday
- Summer
- The Morning Coffee: Wednesday
- The Lambs
- The Bank
- The City Council Meeting
- The Morning Coffee: Thursday
- The Ditch Rider
- The Family Business: C&W
- Late Fall
- The Morning Coffee: Thursday
- The Broker
- The Morning Coffee: Friday
- The Veterinarian
- The Morning Coffee: Saturday
- The Harvest
- The Family Business: Tebow Plumbing Co.
- The Women: Peggy Nelson
- The Nurse
- The Homeopathic
- The Morning Coffee: Monday
- The Drive Home
- Epilogue

Über Autor(innen)

Kate Benz is a freelance writer in South Dakota.