Product Description

Gate by gate, Linda Hasselstrom guides readers through the physical and emotional landscape of going over east to summer pasture. With each stop, she makes a nostalgic foray into the past, discusses the routine demands of her family's cow-calf operation, pays loving tribute to a favorite old horse, celebrates the wildlife and silent dignity of deserted homesteads, or hurls a diatribe at the forces threatening the future of the land and of her small South Dakota ranch. And finally, in her new epilogue, she offers readers a look at the distance she and the land have traveled since this classic was first published in 1987.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #574565 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 220 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781555911416
• Condition: USED - LIKE NEW
• Notes:
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From the Publisher
A new edition of a western classic, now with an epilogue that shares the author's present-day story.

About the Author
Linda Hasselstrom is a poet, essayist, and working ranch woman. She has received many awards for her writing, including a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in poetry and a South Dakota Arts Council literature fellowship.

Customer Reviews

An excellent book casting reflections on rural female life
I first read this book in a regional lit class in college. Being a farmer's wife, I related easily to her tales of life as she "passed through the gates" on the ranch. What an interesting format. The book touched on the important past as well as present rural issues that make that life unique. The author comes across as a strong, independent, and thoughtful woman--someone who respects the power of the past and is interested in the future. The clash of technology and ranching is also explored in a sensitive way. It was a great "journey"--going with her as she rode the ranch--a vast empire of land that holds special significance to her and many others.

A wonderful glimpse of a rapidly disappearing lifestyle
This is one of my favorite books. I first read it when I had left the traffic clogged freeways of LA to live the rural life. I will never forget the sense Hasselstrom gave of what it really takes to battle the elements (and the political and economic changes) that create such a harsh reality for real working ranchers. As an editor I often refer writers to this book as an excellent example of memoir writing. I highly recommend this and Hasselstrom's other books. She is such a skilled writer that whatever she writes about is surely worth reading.

Going Over East
In one way this book accurately depicts life on a family ranch in the area where the author lives; she says nothing that is totally untrue. On the other hand it is misleading. Ranch life is more rewarding than Hasselstrom seems to find it. The somewhat trite whining about minor problems masks some of the real fulfillment and pain that comes with ranching. The author has published several books since this one first appeared in 1987. Some of the later work is much better.

The book has some quality things going for it. The author also writes poetry and that comes across in her prose at times, as it does in the chapter titled, "Sixth Gate." Humor also shows through; the "Seventh Gate" is a good example. The author express well the joys of a spring morning, riding to look at the livestock in good weather, and gazing across a South Dakota landscape that is often delightful. The ranch lies between the Black Hills and the flatlands farther east. She hints at the great feelings that come with pride in raising quality livestock, bring up children in a wholesome environment, helping a new calf come into the world, and taking responsibility for living an independent life. The "Eleventh Gate" about battling a prairie fire is the finest in the book. It illustrates how rapidly fighting fire can demarcate success and failure on a vital scale.

If the reader finds a rancher who has time to talk and asks them what is good about their life, most will list all of the positives found in this book and more besides. Ask about the most serious problems and you will find that most of the big ones are in this book, although nearly hidden in some cases. The uncertainty of the weather and markets may be the first things mentioned. The need for water, both surface water or in wells, is perhaps the most important issue facing ranchers and farmers in the Dakotas, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, and Nebraska. Another valid issue for family operations is the difficult of competing with larger operations, growers located closer to their markets, growers in climates better suited to production, and producers in countries with lower standards of living. It is likewise true that long-term declining profit margins have forced family operations to continually get larger, with fewer people on the land.

Ranchers can also fill your ears with complaints about hunters who won't shut gates, vegetarians, environmentalists, litter from fast food containers, dumb people from the east, and myriad other things. They will also complain about things such as governmental policies, water rights, expenditures on welfare, corporate agriculture, people's disregard of the worth of the family farm, and public right-of-way across their land. At lot of it is simply boilerplate. There is far too much of that in this book. If the author takes it seriously, it is hard to fathom why she came back to the ranch or continues to live there.

Fortunately for us, Hasselstrom does more than ranch; possibly out of both mental and financial necessity. There are several fine books on our shelves that she has written or edited.