The Meadow

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.

Galvin depicts the 100-year history of a meadow in the arid mountains of the Colorado/Wyoming border. He describes the seasons, weather, wildlife, and the few people who do not possess but are themselves possessed by this terrain. "Galvin blends fiction and fact into a haunting story . . . (a) careful, honest, and passionate exploration. . . ."--The New York Times Book Review.

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.

William Kittredge

A masterpiece. The Meadow is one of the best books ever written about the American West.

Raised in northern Colorado, James Galvin is the author of three volumes of poetry and a novel, Fencing the Sky. He has received the Nation/Discovery Award as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Institutes. Mr. Galvin divides his time between Iowa City, where he teaches at the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, and his ranch near Tie Siding, Wyoming.