James Galvin

The big question here, is what took me so long to read this wonderful novel. It checks all my boxes. No answer there but I am glad I finally did. The author sets the story, on the Colorado/Wyoming border and it follows the people that have settled on this land, for the past century. It describes in beautiful detail, all the hardships and joys these people faced. The author grew up in this area and knows it intimately. It comes across on every page. The prose is spare and lyrical, bringing show more the stunning landscapes into sharp focus. I loved many of these characters but Lyle Van Waning, a self-styled bachelor and the central figure here, will go down as one of my very favorite literary creations. Don’t put this one off, like I did. Seek out a copy immediately. show less

This book reminds me of stories my uncle, mother and husband told me about growing up in ranching country, particularly my uncle and mother's stories seated in Montana (the book's story is in Wyoming and Colorado, so close enough). The land and weather are fleetingly soft and mostly hard, and the people who survive there are too. This is a love story, this history of a meadow. Those of us who belong to a particular loved piece of the planet will understand the continued struggles to stay show more close to a patch of earth, no matter the costs. Poetic and richly descriptive of landscape and its natural inhabitants, this work will break open your heart to flora and fauna, and humanity. show less

I could be really lazy and just quote the blurb on the cover:

"A masterpiece. The Meadow is one of the best books ever written about the American West" - William Kittredge

I loved this book, written by a poet and about, not so much the high-mountain meadow on the Colorado/Wyoming border, but the people who lived and attempted to live on it. I will miss App and Ray and Lyle, and even Clara, whom I would have liked to have gotten to know better but I realize this wasn't her story. A mix of show more memoir, fiction and natural history, it begs to be reread as I'm sorry it ended so soon.
Highly recommended. show less

This book contains some beautiful language about the hard life of trying to make a living off the land in Northern Colorado. It is not at all surprising that the author is a poet. He grew up on the Colorado/Wyoming border listening to the stories his neighbors told about the stark land and the hold it had on them. My first association with The Meadow was through the audio version on a road trip to Colorado. I felt like the author was in the car talking to me as we laughed and cried over life show more and death in the shadow of the mountains. I enjoyed my reread of the book in a similar way, except that now Lyle, Ray, Frank, Clara, and the others feel like old family friends. This is definitely going to be one of my comfort reads. show less