Ted Kooser describes with exquisite detail and humor the place he calls home in the rolling hills of southeastern Nebraska--an area known as the Bohemian Alps. Nothing is too big or too small for his attention. Memories of his grandmother's cooking are juxtaposed with reflections about the old-fashioned outhouse on his property. When casting his eye on social progress, Kooser reminds us that the closing of local schools, thoughtless county weed control, and irresponsible housing development destroy more than just the view.
In the end, what makes life meaningful for Kooser are the ways in which his neighbors care for one another and how an afternoon walking with an old dog, or baking a pie, or decorating the house for Christmas can summon memories of his Iowa childhood. This writer is a seer in the truest sense of the word, discovering the extraordinary within the ordinary, the deep beneath the shallow, the abiding wisdom in the pithy Bohemian proverbs that are woven into his essays.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Seasons in the Bohemian Alps:
Ted Kooser, the poet, has written a beautiful little book of memories of his home. In this day of war and constant fear mongering it is a wonderful surprise to find a book this sweet. I passed it around my poetry group and some expected poetry. These small essays are like poetry in their beauty but they are vignettes about the people and the place.
Really, really good!:
This book is easily the best I have read in years, in terms of the sheer ability to write and pass along interesting and intelligent thoughts. Admittedly, I identify with Mr. Kooser's purchase of a place in the country, and his clear enjoyment of the quiet, contemplative life, but the writing alone is worth the purchase for anyone. I actually thought it was a book of poems when I bought it but, no, it is even better. It is a poet writing a series of brief observations clearly, interestingly, and with great... more info
Concise Beauty:
A wonderful book of concise snapshots of rural living. I loved to read each sentence slowly and get the gems packed into each lovingly crafted sentence. So many books these days are too repetitive and include superfulous information that doesn't add to the scene. Every word and sentence is worth reading here though! To me a mix of "The old man and the sea" combined with Willa Cather. Read it like you are eating a rich dessert; you don't need to eat it all in one setting or in large gulping bites. Treasure... more info
Nebraska's E. B. White . . .:
Poet (and now Poet Laureate) Ted Kooser wrote this collection of prose pieces while in his early sixties, all of them appreciations of his daily life and memories of family going back to his boyhood in Ames, Iowa. Living today in a farmhouse near little Gardner, Nebraska, not far from Lincoln, he first describes the rolling terrain of the land and its Czech and Bohemian settlers, whose descendants continue to provide a cultural identity to the region. The essays are sprinkled with Czech and Bohemian... more info
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