{"product_id":"riding-like-the-wind-by-iris-jamahl-dunkle-9780520430785","title":"Riding Like the Wind","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"This absorbing biography, written with both affection and admiration, shows Babb as one of the most indefatigable characters in American literary history.\"—\u003cem\u003eThe New Republic\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis saga of a writer done dirty resurrects the silenced voice of Sanora Babb, a peerless author of midcentury American literature.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn 1939, when John Steinbeck's \u003cem\u003eThe Grapes of Wrath\u003c\/em\u003e was published, it became an instant bestseller and a prevailing narrative in the nation's collective imagination of the era. But it also stopped the publication of another important novel, silencing a gifted writer who was more intimately connected to the true experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. In \u003cem\u003eRiding Like the Wind\u003c\/em\u003e, renowned biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle revives the groundbreaking voice of Sanora Babb.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eDunkle follows Babb from her impoverished childhood in eastern Colorado to California. There, she befriended the era's literati, including Ray Bradbury and Ralph Ellison; entered into an illegal marriage; and was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was Babb's field notes and oral histories of migrant farmworkers that Steinbeck relied on to write his novel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBut this is not merely a saga of literary usurping; on her own merits, Babb's impact was profound. Her life and work feature heavily in Ken Burns's award-winning documentary \u003cem\u003eThe Dust Bowl\u003c\/em\u003e and inspired Kristin Hannah in her bestseller \u003cem\u003eThe Four Winds\u003c\/em\u003e. \u003cem\u003eRiding Like the Wind\u003c\/em\u003e reminds us with fresh awareness that the stories we know—and who tells them—can change the way we remember history.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47306929864940,"sku":"9780520430785","price":47.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/7528183482373.jpg?v=1771070011","url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/products\/riding-like-the-wind-by-iris-jamahl-dunkle-9780520430785","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}