'The Worst Hard Time' is the 2007 One Book

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By CINDY LANGE-KUBICK / Lincoln Journal Star

The 2007 One Book — One Lincoln selection committee has decided the best book for this year’s communitywide read is “The Worst Hard Time” by Timothy Egan.

The nonfiction account of the Dust Bowl years on the High Plains and winner of a National Book Award beat out four other finalists:

“The Madonnas of Leningrad” by Debra Dean, “Water for Elephants” by Sara Gruen, “If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things” by Jon McGregor, and “Moloka’i” by Alan Brennert.

“Even though it’s nonfiction, it truly reads like fiction,” said Greg Mickells, assistant library director and a member of the selection committee.

“I was just totally amazed reading the book that people could endure the hardships they did.”

A summary from publisher Houghton Mifflin Company’s Web site describes the book this way:

The dust storms that terrorized America's High Plains in the darkest years of the Depression were like nothing ever seen before or since.  Drawing on the voices of those who stayed and survived, a story of endurance and heroism against the backdrop of the Great Depression.

Walter Cronkite called it “can’t put down history.”

The Chicago Tribune said it “masterfully captures the story of our nation’s greatest environmental disaster.”

Pulitzer Prize-winner Egan’s book is extremely well researched, said Mickells.

It also has some Nebraska ties.

Egan came to the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia Museum in Lincoln to conduct research. A diary from the Nebraska State Historical Society was also referenced in the book.

Lincoln City Libraries has 600 copies of “The Worst Hard Time” on its shelves as well as 190 audio CDs.

Local bookstores have extra copies of the chosen book, as well.

Bill Ganzel, photographer and author of  “Dust Bowl Descent,” will  present a program on Oct. 7 at the Lincoln Community Playhouse, in conjunction with a traveling photo exhibit on the Dust Bowl.

Information about other programming and  book discussion groups is being finalized, said Mickells.

Readers can check local libraries, the Lincoln Journal Star and the libraries’ Web site (www.lincolnlibraries.org) for more information this fall.

Last year’s chosen book was “The Devil in the White City” by Erik Larson. One Book — One Lincoln kicked off in 2002 with “Plainsong” by Kent Haruf.

Reach Cindy Lange-Kubick at 473-7218 or clangekubick@journalstar.com.