I Wish I'd Written This

books:

	• The Meadow James Galvin Owl Books, 1993 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

What Can I Say?

This book is a keeper, one that is on my shelf for rereading. James Galvin's stories remind me of the old-timers in my life here in Arizona, their quirks yet because they authentic you can't help but adore them. Unfortunately many of these old-timers are gone now and I therefore can appreciate a book like The Meadow where such stories are preserved in time and preserved with beauty and poetry. Such an unusual and unexpected combination - I love this book and would now like to read Mr. Galvin's poetry.

The Gift of Place

This non-linear piece of prose is elegant in its ability to take us to a place now long-gone. Capturing the life of a meadow on the high plains of the Colorado Wyoming border, Galvin creates a rich and vivid description of life over a 100 year span.
His main character, Lyle, is a true man of the old farming west and a lover of the land as it was. Galvin's ability to create mental pictures of people, land and life makes the book a enthralling read.
Don't expect it to move quickly, although the entire book is done in vignettes. Don't expect to remember all the characters, especially if you lay the book down and don't pick it back up for a few days. Even with these reading challenges, the book is a gift of great writing and a glimpse of the past.

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I Wish I'd Written This

One of the most perfect books about the American West I've ever read. Actually, one of the most perfect books I've ever read, period. This is one of the contemporary books that I most admire. And the characters, particularly Lyle, have remained with me vividly. Galvin's novel, Fencing the Sky, is also a great book, more plotted and less lyrical, that people drawn to a more "typical" novel might love. And his poetry? God, don't even let me start. A telling piece of info: I have two copies of both The Meadow and Resurrection Update (his collected poems) so I always have one to give away.

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Wondrously Great

Spare, poetic language creates a sense of place and time that envelops the reader. Lyle is one of my favorite characters of all time.

A Beautiful Book

This is the story of a meadow on the Colorado/Wyoming border and of the people who lived there. It is beautifully written, and the story rings true. I passed the book on to my husband who comes from a long line of do-it-yourselfers. I think he will enjoy reading about the independent Lyle who could make any tool he needed from scratch.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

An American Library Association Notable Book

In discrete disclosures joined with the intricacy of a spider's web, James Galvin depicts the hundred-year history of a meadow in the arid mountains of the Colorado/Wyoming border. Galvin describes the seasons, the weather, the wildlife, and the few people who do not possess but are themselves possessed by this terrain. In so doing he reveals an experience that is part of our heritage and mythology. For Lyle, Ray, Clara, and App, the struggle to survive on an independent family ranch is a series of blameless failures and unacclaimed successes that illuminate the Western character. The Meadow evokes a sense of place that can be achieved only by someone who knows it intimately.

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