Clouds: A Family, a Farm, and a Cotton Farmer's Poetic License

by B.A. Grisham, Rachel Villani (Editor), Andy Bridge (Illustrator)

407 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 7, 2026

About the author

Dr. Blake A. Grisham is a wildlife biologist and author from Black Oak, Arkansas, with more than twenty years of field conservation across the American South and Great Plains. When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviewed the lesser prairie-chicken for federal listing, Grisham sat on the Species Status Assessment science team; he is a co-author of the species’ genome and of the population genomics that carried its taxonomy into policy. His field programs have captured, banded, and tracked more than a thousand wild birds: wild turkeys in Louisiana bottomland hardwoods, purple martins at backyard housing, sandhill cranes down the middle of the continent. His writing has been honored on both sides of the aisle he straddles, an Outstanding Popular Publication award from the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society, which also named him Educator of the Year. Audiences know him from National Geographic and Disney+’s Underdogs, Mossy Oak’s Gamekeeper platforms, and more than 150 public talks and workshops. He left Texas Tech University in 2025 to found Grisham Field & Feather LLC and its imprint, Grisham Field Press, with a field office on Buffalo Island. Clouds, a memoir of his family’s Delta, is his first book. He lives in Lubbock, Texas.

Reviews

[Erin Tolson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't laughed that much in a long time-at one point, my face literally hurt! This book took me on an emotional roller coaster, bringing tears of pure laughter one moment and heartfelt tears for your loss the next.
Dr. Grisham is an incredible storyteller. Reading this made me feel deeply connected to his story, the people in it, and the feeling of home. I was so fully immersed that I was truly sad when I turned the last page.
Highly recommended to anyone looking for a deeply personal, funny, and resonant memoir!
*I received and advance copy of this book.

[Leslye McGrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

They say you can't go home again, but this book proves that maybe you can--at least through the power of memories and a great storyteller. From the first pages, the author pulls you in and takes his readers on a hilarious and heartfelt journey and introduces you to the people and places of Black Oak, Arkansas. The book is a perfect blend of nostalgia, humor, and affection. It is a beautifully written memoir that will cause you reminisce about the people and places that make you who you are. Highly recommend! (I received an advance copy of this book.)