The Meadow, James Galvin
The Meadow, James Galvin
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The Meadow

Author: James Galvin

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 6 hr 20 min

Format: Digital Audiobook (DRM Protected)

Published: 06/25/2005

Synopsis

Through short vignettes that read like a novel, 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, but most of all he reveals deeply personal portraits of the few people who live there and who do not so much possess but are themselves possessed by the terrain. 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 evolves a sense of place that can be achieved only by someone who knows it intimately.

About James Galvin

James Galvin, the author of three volumes of poetry, has received the Nation/Discovery Award as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Institute. Raised in northern Colorado, he lives in Wyoming but teaches each year at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.

About Patrick Lawlor

Patrick Lawlor, an award-winning narrator, is also an accomplished stage actor, director, and combat choreographer. He has worked extensively off Broadway and has been an actor and stuntman in both film and television. He has been an Audie Award finalist multiple times and has garnered several AudioFile Earphones Awards, a Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Award, and many starred audio reviews from Library Journal and Kirkus Reviews.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lew on April 26, 2017

Like a series of prose poems—simply gorgeous!......more

Goodreads review by Joshua on July 19, 2017

A lovely, quiet read. A beautiful evocation of place and time. Galvin offers gorgeous description and heartful, longing characters whose unrequited love for this piece of land lingers from one generation to the next.......more

Goodreads review by David on October 24, 2014

Written about the men I admire most--tough, gritty old timers hesitant of outsiders who are more attached to a land than a people--this is less a novel than a chaptered narrative of prose poetry, some of the richest language I've ever read. There are paragraphs that kept me up at night, and entire c......more

Goodreads review by Marit on April 28, 2009

Technically this book is a sort of memoir/historical non-fiction, but it reads like fiction. The style of writing blew me away with its simple but strong prose that vibrates with calm intensity. Galvin's writing is almost like Hemingway, short episodes, almost unrelated at times, that jump back and......more

Quotes

“Gifted poet James Galvin blends fiction and fact into a haunting story…This careful, honest, and passionate exploration gives The Meadow its power and beauty.” New York Times Book Review

“Readers of Richard Ford, Jim Harrison, and Rick Bass will feel at home in Galvin’s country.” Publishers Weekly

“Galvin…knows the landscape intimately and conveys an unforgettable sense of the beauty and isolation of the area. Equally fascinating are the portraits of the few who inhabit this landscape of rugged individualists and family ranches. Rarely has an author captured life in the American West with such poignancy. Highly recommended.” Library Journal

“This fine piece of regional writing will recall the land and people of the American West to anyone who has been there and introduce them to those who have not.” School Library Journal

“Close-ups of seldom-seen bedrock people of the American West, adroitly drawn and deeply felt.” Kirkus Reviews

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