Book not published because of "Grapes of Wrath"

[Sequoia]

"Whose Names Are Unknown", by Sanora Babb

http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/P/0806137126.01._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-dp-500-arrow,TopRight,45,-64_AA240_SH20_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg

Originally written and slated for publication in 1939, this long-forgotten masterpiece was shelved by Random House when The Grapes of Wrath met with wide acclaim. In the belief that Steinbeck already adequately explored the subject matter, Babb's lyrical novel about a farm family's relentless struggle to survive in both Depression-era Oklahoma and in the California migrant labor camps gathered dust for decades. Rescued from obscurity by the University of Oklahoma Press, the members of the poor but proud Dunne family and their circle of equally determined friends provide another legitimate glimpse into life on the dust-plagued prairies of the Southwest and in the fertile, but bitterly disappointing, orchards and vineyards of the so-called promised land. Babb, a native of Oklahoma's arid panhandle and a volunteer with the Farm Security Administration in Depression-era California, brings an insider's knowledge and immediacy to this authentically compelling narrative. A slightly less political, more female-oriented, companion piece to The Grapes of Wrath. Margaret Flanagan (Amazon.com)

I just got the non-fiction book, "The Worst Hard Time", by Timothy Egan
from the library then found this one mentioned in the NY Times Book Review. Black Sunday, April 14, 1935 was the worst day when the dust storm carried twice as much dirt as was dug out of the Earth to create the Panama Canal.

[matt819]

1. Re The Worst Hard Time

This is a must read to understand both the era and how government policies have managed to screw up monumentally and how the efforts of only a few dedicated people managed to begin to set things right.