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John Price鈥檚 Man Killed by Pheasant is a loving ode to the prairies of the Midwest, to west central Iowa, and to family connections that stretch from his Swedish ancestors to his parents to his wife and children. Throughout, he embraces 鈥渢he opportunity, as always, to settle, to remember, and be ready.鈥 This quest sounds more portentous than it is, once enriched with Price鈥檚 gentle humor and endearing empathy. Sharing stories of home, secrets of landscape, and binding ties to both, he weaves history and memory to create permanent kinships for himself and for his readers.

鈥淛ohn Price writes with exceptional lucidity, humor, and wisdom about his unexceptional鈥攁nd exemplary鈥擜merican life. I spent my own youth in this very region, and I don鈥檛 know a better or more charming prose distillation of its sweet, homely beauty and melancholy. Man Killed by Pheasant . . . is a perfect nonfiction companion to the stories of Garrison Keillor and the movies of Alexander Payne.鈥濃擪urt Andersen, author, Heyday, and host of PRI鈥檚 Studio 360
鈥淩eveals the humor and uncertainty of youth and parenthood; the clarity of his nature writing exhibits the strength he finds in the ancient patterns of migratory birds and the flexibility of the Missouri River. Beyond his elegantly styled memoir, Price achieves a rich biographical portrait of the rural Midwest鈥攊ts cultural and natural terrain鈥攃reating a character from the profound flatness of the region with as much life as he finds in his grandparents and children.鈥Booklist, starred review
鈥淲hether he is writing about fatherhood, or marriage, or gardening, or snow geese, readers will be captivated by his honest and funny search for meaning, for belonging, for home.鈥濃Boston Globe 
鈥淭he David Sedaris of nature writing and one of the most important younger nature writers.鈥濃Isotope: A Journal of Literary Nature and Science Writing 
鈥淛ohn Price鈥檚 memoir is a powerful inquiry into what it means to be a Midwesterner. In a style that replicates the laconic surface and passionate undercurrents of that region, he has fashioned not only a personal story, but a powerful evocation of the land and its European immigrant families. Essential reading for鈥攁nd of鈥攖he heartland.鈥濃擯atricia Hampl, author, The Florist鈥檚 Daughter
鈥淎 delightful read. . . . Price adds touches of humor at just the right times in ways recalling the writing of David Sedaris. Price鈥檚 portrayal of a young man dealing with the occasional hard truth of life is funny at times, moving at others, and always engaging. . . . [I]t is a joy to learn about Price鈥檚 life, his development as a writer, and his development as a person.鈥濃The Omaha World-Herald

Paperback

ISBN-13
9781609380755
Retail price
$17.00
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Publication Details

Publication Details

Publication Date
04/25/2012
Pages, art, trim size
278 pages
Edition
1st