Not Just Any Land: A Personal and Literary Journey into the American Grasslands

by John T. Price

Though he’d lived in Iowa all his life, the allure of the prairie had somehow eluded John Price—until, after a catastrophic flood, a brief glimpse of native wildlife suddenly brought his surroundings home to him. Not Just Any Land is a memoir of Price’s rediscovery of his place in the American landscape and of his search for a new relationship to the life of the prairie—that once immense and beautiful wilderness of grass now so depleted and damaged as to test even the deepest faith. Price’s journey toward a conscious commitment to place takes him to some of America’s largest remaining grasslands and brings him face to face with a troubling, but also hopeful, personal and environmental legacy. It also leads him through the region’s literature and into conversations with contemporary nature writers—Linda Hasselstrom, Dan O’Brien, William Least Heat-Moon, and Mary Swander—who have devoted themselves to living in, writing about, and restoring the grasslands. Among these authors Price observes how a commitment to the land can spring from diverse sources, for instance, the generational weight of a family ranch, the rites of wildlife preservation, the “deep maps” of ancestral memory, and the imperatives of a body inflicted with environmental illness. The resulting narrative is an innovative blend of memoir, nature writing, and literary criticism that bears witness to the essential bonds between spirit, art, and earth.

Genres: Nature, Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Laura Julier · Rating 5 out of 5]

As the subtitle says, Price blends personal and literary, through a series of interviews with midwestern writers whom he visits in place. Because at the heart of the book is the land, and our interactions with it, as well as the ways places graft themselves onto our lives. The first chapter is particularly noteworthy for the way Price situates himself and the book in time, and serves as a terrific craft essay for writers of memoir or personal essay.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

As I look forward to again attending The Prairie Festival at The Land again this year, I relished reading this book. It was fascinating reading the four authors' discussions of their work and their lives as they intersect their published writing.

This book also spoke to my interest in the Operation Migration project which is leading the way for the whooping cranes to again be wild and part of the land. John Price ponders and dissects the importance of place and the meaning of home and how we can follow Wendell Berry in really knowing about the place where we live.

"Though Heat-Moon's final quest for memory is a times awkward and self-conscious, it is for him essential. If America, if the human species, is to survive, then it must work actively to rejuvenate and reconstruct geographically specific, ancestral paradigms-deep maps-that move it toward a grand harmony of people and places."

Anyone who has seen the movie "Into the Wild" will resonate with Price's description of the effects of William Trogdon's decision to write "Prairy Erth" under the name William Least Heat-Moon.

"This rejuvenation begins with the individual journey, with the singular act of self-creation represented, perhaps, by William Trogdon's decision to rejuvenate the William Least Heat-Moon name. Whatever the consequences for the larger world, it was clear to me that the "Heat-Moon self" had led Trogdon to write one of the most important books on the prairie in American literature, a book that had had a profound impact on my own commitment to place. That fact alone suggested that what Heat-Moon had written about names was true, that they have he power to shape who we become in relation to the land around us. He writes:'Many tribal Americans believe that a person turns into his name, partakes of its nature in such a way that it is a mold the possessor comes to fill. When names lose their first meaning, as they have to most Americans of European descent, that mold becomes only a handle for others to move us around with.'"

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first few essays were wonderful and just what I needed to feel a little more rooted in the Great Plains. Unfortunately they got longer and longer and the one about William Least-Heat Moon lost me completely. Even I am far too bored to finish this book, and I'm a huge fan of nature writing. Also, I ALWAYS finish books, just on principle! The book just got too self-indulgent and self-reflective--good for a journal, not as interesting to general audiences. I'm marking it as read because I got what I needed out of it. Maybe I would have lasted longer if I'd read it at a different period of life--not when I'm juggling kids and pregnancy and need something that's really going to hold my interest.

[Leda Frost · Rating 3 out of 5]

At its core, this book is a recollection of Price's sojourn into environmentalism and environmental writing. In that respect it is a memoir chronicling the beginnings of the nature writing that would become his central focus moving forward. However, it is also a collection of interviews of various other nature writers, people who, as he puts it, have already "stepped through the door" of commitment to place. Though he admits his ideas have become more nuanced over time, and that the writers he's interviewed have also grown, he desired to keep the writing as true to the time as possible. In some respects that limits what he set out to do, but as a memoir, it remains true to life and as such is easily accessible to someone new to the genre.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Price's sense of connection to the grasslands is infectious in this book. Maybe it's because I grew up in Nebraska, but I don't think it's just that...because I always lived in the city. I don't know if it's his thoughtful introspection, his detailed description, or how he works toward finding his own connection at the same time that he connects to others regarding their connection. Whatever it is, it works...and it works well. The end result is a rich and enjoyable book, something that the grasslands surely deserve.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

My professor from UNO wrote this book. He offers insight into American's Grasslands and explores areas in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and South Dakota.