Big Muddy: Down the Mississippi Through America's Heartland

by B.C. Hall, C. T. Wood

1993, trade paperback reprint edition. 290 pages, b&w photos throughout. Here is a travel book to savor. An up to date humorist ride down the Mississippi, checking out some scenery, people and places that represent the best of America. "I enjoyed Big Muddy all the way from Minnesota down to the Mississippi bayous. What a good book." Here is B.B. King to Huck Finn to politics to a place of history and loveliness. Very nicely done.

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1993

Reviews

[Gregory Cannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

IN THE SECTION OF THE BOOK ABOUT ST.LOUIS, THE AUTHORS HAD 3 OBVIOUS MISTAKES..."ALUMINUM SHADOWS" OF THE ARCH..THE ARCH IS MADE OF STAINLESS STEEL...
ABOUT GRANT'S CABIN- IT WAS MOVED THERE FROM A MILE AWAY BY BEER BARON AUGUST A. BUSCH, THE 2ND, I THINK.
GASLIGHT SQUARE- AN ENTERTAINMENT AREA, NOW LONG GONE- ONLY BEGAN TO FLOURISH IN 1959, AFTER A TORNADO IN THE AREA SPURRED REDEVELOPMENT.
ALSO MENTIONED THE EXCURSION BOAT "ADMIRAL', LATER REINCARNATED AS A FLOATING CASINO. THE ADMIRAL'S EXCURSIONS WERE LONG GONE BY THE TIME THE AUTHORS VISITED..
OK. I AM DONE VENTING...

[Chuck Barber · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book appears to be out of print, and that’s a good thing. I have lived 20 blocks from the river since 1983, and, yes, I know it’s an ecological catastrophe. But Hall and Wood’s excursion down the river seems to be all about telling the story of every injustice that happened near (or far from) the river, even if the river was only an observer. They seemed to go into every town looking for malcontents to talk to and relate their stories as unquestioned truth.

While they included a bibliography, they did not include footnotes, so I couldn’t source many of their most outrageous historical claims. And there were enough minor errors involving places and events I am familiar with that these cast doubt on the larger events described. It is obvious that this book was not proofread by anyone familiar with (at least) the history, geography, and culture of the southern end of the Mississippi. I would have quit reading, but I was curious what further mistakes the authors would make.

I just read in the New York Times about a historian at Tufts University who got fired, and her book pulled by the publisher, for exactly this kind of work.

[ajoyim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I live one block from the great Mississippi River and have always felt connected to it. a most excellent read!

[Scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Never really connected with this book. Was looking for history, quirks of communities on the river. Got a little if that and a lot of the writers personal feelings about life.