Time's Shadow by Arnold J Bauer

Time's Shadow by Arnold J Bauer

Arnold Bauer grew up on his family’s 160-acre farm in Goshen Township in Clay County, Kansas, amidst a land of prairie grass and rich creek-bottom soil. His meditative and moving account of those years depicts a century-long narrative of struggle, survival, and demise. A coming-of-age memoir set in the 1930s to ‘50s, it blends local history with personal reflection to paint a realistic picture of farm life and families from a now-lost world.

Bauer’s was typical of true family farms, where wives supplemented family income by selling butter and eggs and children provided unpaid labour. These hardworking farmers were not particularly heroic or virtuous. They had their debts and doubts; but at the same time their struggles for a kind of moral economy offer valuable lessons that merit our attention today.

Among Bauer’s vivid recollections: driving a team of huge, clomping work horses; his father’s daybreak call to long days in the field at age 12; and surviving eight years of education in a one-room schoolhouse (with one teacher determined to have all her students learn the harmonica). He shares the trials of Depression and drought, experiences the coming of electricity—which prompted his father to take on a sideline as an electrician—and reveals the vital importance of the local blacksmith. Throughout the book, he finds wonder in the commonplace, like going to town on a Saturday night for a black walnut ice cream cone.

Here is a childhood that few in the United States will ever know. More than that, it is a key to understanding the tragedy that befell the smaller family farms on the Great Plains as sweeping changes after the mid-1950s—falling grain and livestock prices, adverse terms of trade for agricultural products—turned out to be more devastating than tornados or dust storms.

Gracefully written with a keen eye for the telling detail, Time’s Shadow eloquently captures the events of an era and the meaning it held for one boy and those around him. It is a refreshingly unsentimental “Little House on the Prairie” that will resonate not only with older compatriots but with anyone whose curiosity leads them to wonder about a world we have lost.

“Bauer’s story is told clearly and convincingly and at times reaches a level of touching eloquence. . . Will be a contribution to the understanding of the changes in rural life and family farms on the Great Plains from the 1910s to 1960s and appeal to anyone interested in Kansas history.”—Rex Buchanan, author of Roadside Kansas: A Traveler’s Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks

“Bauer’s work is very reminiscent of the classic Sod and Stubble. Descriptive and reflective, it leaves us with the powerful sense that something significant happened. I like it a lot.”—Thomas D. Isern, author of Dakota Circle: Excursions on the True Plains

Arnold J. Bauer went from his family farm to study in Mexico and Berkeley and to teach Latin American Studies at the University of California at Davis. In 2005 he received the “Order of Merit Gabriela Mistral,” the highest recognition the Chilean government awards for contributions to education and culture. He lives in Davis.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780700618439
ISBN 10	0700618430
Title	Time's Shadow
Author	Arnold J Bauer
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	University Press of Kansas
Year published	2012-05-30
Number of pages	176
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.