Oklahoma: A Sense of Place

by Michael Wallis

To be sure, Oklahoma is a land of contrasts. Within the state one can find red necks and blue bloods, pickups and polo ponies, beer joints and country clubs, fiery preachers and pagans, rodeo and ballet. Oklahoma is the nation’s great mixing bowl. Yet all too often even native-born Oklahomans lose their sense of place and the land misplaces its sense of rhythm. Without rhythm, there can be no balance. In A Sense of Place , best-selling author Michael Wallis reminds us that it is important to know all of our history — good, bad, and ugly. In his compelling story of early adventurers, wisdom seekers, outlaws, and risk takers are lessons for everyone, whether they reside in Oklahoma or not. For, in the end, all readers must finally ask if they have their own sense of place.

76 pages, Paperback

First published April 28, 2012

About the author

Michael Wallis is the bestselling author of Route 66, Billy the Kid, Pretty Boy, and David Crockett. He hosts the PBS series American Roads. He voiced The Sheriff in the animated Pixar feature Cars. He lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Reviews

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the print version of a talk Wallis gave at the Tulsa Town Hall, now in its 77th year. When you purchase the book it provides you with instruction on how to obtain a free eBook download, which is nice.

Wallis could be called the Poet Laureate of OK - too bad he writes non-fiction. I am sure if you heard this talk, and are from OK, you'd love it. But it kind of meanders all over the place and includes a couple personal stories filled with bathos.

Still, it is an enjoyable book to read (only about 50 pages of the book's 70 or so pages, all in large print, consists of his speech) and gives you some nice smidgens of OK and Tulsa history. The subtitle of "A Sense of Place" fits well for this dx-newspaper writer who moved to Tulsa in about 1980.

Go read his collection, "Way Down yonder in the Indian Nation" instead.