Main-Travelled Roads - Softcover

This book challenges the concept of the American dream. It reveals the stubborn courage and pessimistic wit of Midwest farmers who are scarcely conscious that they are somewhat to blame for their own misfortunes. Inspired by a visit to the Dakota farm country of his youth, Hamlin Garland's Main-Travelled Roads depicts the half-resigned, half-rebellious men and women who work the arid soil for the profit of shrewd landowners. These characters share a sense of deprivation, losing their farms, loved ones, and faith in people, with such recurrence that they feel guild even at their occasional, belated success.