MAN KILLED BY PHEASANT AND OTHER KINSHIPS
Merloyd Lawrence Books/Da Capo, 2008
Paperback, U. of Iowa Press
--Featured Book, 2010 Scott County [IA] All-County Read
--Orion Magazine 2009 Readers’ Choice Award
--Finalist, 2009 ASLE Book Award for Environmental Writing
--2008 Midwestern Connections Book Pick. Midwest Independent Booksellers Association
Grounded in place, in the great grasslands of the Midwest, john Price’s large-hearted memoir is nevertheless a story that knows no boundaries. Kinship is the thread that runs throughout, with creatures in his backyard and in the wild, with Swedish ancestors, with neighors, with the Midwestern prairies, and with his wife and children. Often smiling at the earthy absurdities of ordinary life, and at other moments resonation with both joy and sorrow, this book bears witness to the bonds that link us all.
PRAISE FOR
MAN KILLED BY PHEASANT AND OTHER KINSHIPS
“Reveals the humor and uncertainty of youth and parenthood; the clarity of his nature writing exhibits the strength he finds in the ancient patterns of migratory birds and the flexibility of the Missouri River. Beyond his elegantly styled memoir, Price achieves a rich biographical portrait of the rural Midwest—its cultural and natural terrain—creating a character from the profound flatness of the region with as much life as he finds in his grandparents and children.” --Booklist, starred review
“John Price writes with exceptional lucidity, humor, and wisdom about his unexceptional—and exemplary—American life. I spent my own youth in this very region, and I don’t know a better or more charming prose distillation of its sweet, homely beauty and melancholy. This is a perfect nonfiction companion to the stories of Garrison Keillor and the moves of Alexander Payne.” –Kurt Andersen, author of Heyday
“John Price’s memoir is a powerful inquiry into what it means to be a Midwesterner. In a style that replicates the laconic surface and passionate undercurrents of that region, he has fashioned not only a personal story, but a powerful evocation of the land and its European immigrant families.” –Patricia Hampl, author of The Florist’s Daughter
“Anyone who’s grown up in a family and started a family has a story—though not everyone can tell theirs with the kind of grace, insight and humanity John Price brings to his.” –Hope Edelman, author of Motherless Daughters
“Will resonate not only with those of us who have Midwestern roots, but with anyone who relishes a walk in the woods or a witty turn of phrase. Savor this book, it’s a delight.”—Lisa Renstrom, former President of the Sierra Club
“John Price is a warm, compassionate, humorous narrator who takes us through a rich journey of awakening to the natural world.”—Mary Swander, author of Out of this World: A Journey of Healing
“Man Killed by Pheasant startles. Its profound reflections on the place of memory and the memory of place quietly explode before your eyes. The flat landscapes of the prairie spike into a range of flushed and feathered emotion. The writing flies.”—Michael Martone, author of Racing in Place
“The David Sedaris of nature writing and one of the most important younger nature writers.” –Isotope: A Journal of Literary Nature and Science Writing
“A delightful read….Price’s portrayal of a young man dealing with the occasional hard truth of life is funny at times, moving at others, and always engaging. –Omaha World-Herald