Seeds of Man: An Experience Lived and Dreamed

by Woody Guthrie

Seeds of Man is based on Woody Guthrie’s adventurous 1931 trip through Texas. Nineteen-year-old Woody, accompanied by family members, drives from Pampa in the Panhandle to the rugged Big Bend country in a wheezing Model-T Ford truck. They are searching for a silver mine that Uncle Jeff had discovered and then lost. This autobiographical novel, originally published in 1976—nearly ten years after Woody Guthrie’s death—shows how his father’s search for riches was a dead-end street. The characters dare and do, drink Papa’s high-proof whiskey, eat out of cans, meet real characters, make love, and sing the lively songs composed by Woody along the way.

Genres: Fiction, Music

401 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Woodrow Wilson "Woody" Guthrie was an American songwriter and folk musician. Guthrie's musical legacy consists of hundreds of songs, ballads and improvised works covering topics from political themes to traditional songs to children's songs. Guthrie performed continually throughout his life with his guitar frequently displaying the slogan "This Machine Kills Fascists". Guthrie is perhaps best known for his song "This Land Is Your Land" which is regularly sung in American schools. Many of his recorded songs are archived in the Library of Congress.

Guthrie traveled with migrant workers from Oklahoma to California and learned traditional folk and blues songs. His songs are about his experiences in the Dust Bowl era during the Great Depression and are known as the "Dust Bowl Troubadour." Guthrie was associated with, but never a member of, Communist groups in the United States throughout his life.

Guthrie was married three times and fathered eight children, including American folk musician Arlo Guthrie. He is the grandfather of musician Sarah Lee Guthrie. Guthrie died from complications of the degenerative neurologic affliction known as Huntington's Disease. In spite of his illness, during his later years Guthrie served as a figurehead in the folk movement providing inspiration to a generation of new folk musicians, including mentor relationships with Ramblin' Jack Elliott and Bob Dylan.

Reviews

[Edward Renehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pete Seeger and I once had a long conversation about Woody's writing, and agreed the novel SEEDS OF MAN beat the hell out of the semi-fictionalized autobiography BOUND FOR GLORY, which was also - of course - more than worthwhile. We further agreed SEEDS could make an excellent film. Pete looked at me and said: "You ought to write a screenplay and get a film made." I said: "That's a whole different kind of writing from what I do. Plus, I don't have a clue how to, or the power to, get a film project off the ground." Pete said: "Who would?" I said: "Call Tim Robbins." Pete said: "Yes. You're right! I'll tell Timmy. He'll be up visiting next week." Nothing ever happened, but it was a cool exchange.

[Bondama · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I will be cherishing and reading very, very slowly. I'm not even close to finishing it, but I don't want to. I'm taking it off my currently reading, although I've a feeling I'll read it many, many times. Woody Guthrie was, after all, my hero of heroes.

[Daniel Schertzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Woody had such a knack for looking at the world through a lyrical, whimsical lens. His writing is unique and musical throughout. However, unlike Bound for Glory I found the book’s pacing to be slow, at times too slow to be enjoyable. By the halfway mark much of the momentum had run dry and the reader is left with little more than Woody’s stylish writing to hold on to. I get the sense that what was said in 400 pages could have been paired down to something like 200 without sacrificing any of the magic and charm.

[Matt Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is earthy, tangible, real, much as the author himself was. It's been accused of being meandering, slow-moving, and boring. I didn't experience these feelings as I spent the last 6 weeks reading it. It certainly is a book which would be difficult to read quickly -- so perhaps that has something to do with the slow-moving opinions out there -- but that doesn't make the book something you ought to skip. Woody is a treasure, and he set out in all of his work, both written and sung, to record real people, real events, and how those real events affect those real people; how those people are shaped by the world around them and shape others. Given that this is "an experience lived and dreamed," more of Woody's character and personality is explained in these pages, as you can read him speaking not only through himself, but through each of the characters, both real and dreamed. This is a treasure for anyone who is interested in Woody Guthrie, or adventure fiction -- if you enjoy Steinbeck, I truly think you'd enjoy this.

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

I can't recommend this book, and it pains me not to be able to do so, because Woody Guthrie is an icon and one of my heroes - musically and otherwise. I wonder if his ghost wishes this had never seen print. It is a composite of 2 previously unpublished manuscripts about a trip the Guthries actually did take, part of which is actual and much fictional. The dialogues are endless and inane, phoneticized into pidgin "cracker" English and pidgin Spanish-accent, in insulting ways. The tale is interesting in itself, but continuously sidetracked by juvenile adventures and the objectification of women. It is partly redeemed by self-revelation at the end that is, in essence, confessional. Despite the Editorial Note in the preface, there is little sign this book ever got near an actual editor. It is hard to read.

[Jackson Burnett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seeds of Man: An Experience Lived and Dreamed is what Bound for Glory would have been if the latter hadn't been well-edited. While Bound for Glory should be considered a part of the American canon, Seeds of Man definitely feels like a work in progress. In fact, it wasn't published until after Guthrie had passed and came out in its unedited original state. It's a book worth reading to experience Guthrie's great gift of improvisation, but it's not a great book by any means.

[Rebecca I · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't know about this book and it was a surprise. It just is a good example of the style of the legend and the meaning of music in his life. It is quite representative of the times and what life was like at that time. All in the family and the community had to be tough and work hard in order to survive. You can see through the life experiences even at this young age that there was much to write songs about. It is great to get a glimpse of him during his younger years. Also nice to see how difficult times affect one's sense of humor. The family seems to survive because of it at times.

[Arthur]

I have read this book about five times from 1980 and I'm just going to read it again.
A great book by a young man ready to live his life fully into the greatness it was. Songs made up by Woody as they travell all the way through the story of the lost silver mine near the Mexican boarder and their adventures and mishaps and love filled nights. I'd love to produce it on stage or screen.
A.D.Hayward

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great adventure story of Woody, cousin Eddie, Uncle Jeff and Pa Charlie's quest for Paw Jerry's gold claim. It takes them from Pampa OK to the Big Bend of the Rio Grande. Woody is a great and many times very humorous writer, his romps with Helly Cat and Rio Rina were downright steamy! He tells a great story, right up there with "Bound for Glory" Look forward to reading "House of Earth"

[Ginebra Lavao Lizcano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun little treasure from the old books store. Woody’s writing is as pretty and witty as in Bound for Glory. I really believe he is one of the cleverest writers I’ve ever read. Every sentence is ingeniously written and could incite a good song. The end of the book got a bit tiring but overall the story was entrancing.

[Mason Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun Depression-era story that had a slow start, but fun middle and end.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A little tough getting used to the slang used but once you do, Woody takes you on an incredible journey. seeing the roots of a well intentioned man where many more could follow his lead

[Mat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I liked this even more than Bound for Glory although I know that Woody worked on this book in fits and starts, keeping certain parts, revising others and interestingly enough, it is based on a true story. Woody and his family actually did set out and tried to find that stake.

Stylistically throughout the book, you can kind of tell which parts he struggled with and in which parts the typewriter was just buzzin' as the diamonds in his mind were transferred onto the page.

I love his descriptions of the Chisos Mountains - an area which sounds filled with great beauty and danger.

A few other things I really learned about Woody from reading this book was that he was a very sexual person - a philanderer in fact, and he does not even try to hide it and I wonder if that came across as quite 'sensational' in his own time. I always felt that Woody was very eastern/oriental in how he looked at sex (i.e. more liberal and none of that christian clap-trap about it being a 'sin').

Although I have never liked Woody's singing voice all that much, I have always admired his songwriting and general writing ability. I read in Cray's excellent biography on Woody, Rambling Man, that at one stage he even thought about becoming a professional writer, instead of becoming the legendary travelling ministrel/musician and an inspiration to a new dawn of folk artists including Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Pete Seeger, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Sammy Walker and Billy Bragg, just to name a few.

In the end he was a great writer of songs, articles and books.
I love the style of the dialogue in Seeds of Man which is written out in exaggerated Okie-style transcription. Woody had a very quirky sense of humor, full of dry and laconic wit which certainly seems missing in the modern world these days.

Finally, assuming Woody's portrait is accurate, Woody's father came across as a wonderful man in the book - intelligent, kind, gentle, patient, forgiving and most importantly a very good father. While Woody has been one of my artistic role-models, I really came to admire Woody's father as a day-to-day human being, parent and father through this book.

I highly recommend this, even if you are not a fan of Woody's music.

[Susie M · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book because it is set in the Big Bend country of Texas along the Rio Grande. My family and I made a visit to Big Bend National Park last fall, an isolated and spectacular place! I was hoping I would learn more about the area and the people who lived there in the past, and I did. Reading the book was slow going, though, as it is written in the often hard-to-interpret vernacular of the region. A nice bonus was that I learned about the author and songwriter Woody Guthrie's life and his poetic way with words.