Shantyboat on the Bayous

Rating:
Summary: Thoreau's Ideal, Lived
Review: You will be amazed at the beauty, simplicity and artistry of this little book. You will also feel compelled to read his first book which describes his wondrous shantyboat voyage from Brent, Kentucky to the Bayous of Louisianna. Both are successful stories of love of life fulfilled by bringing it into harmony with the ancient rhythms of nature. All this is recorded in a poetic narrative which expresses the beauty of everyday life of a couple attuned to ebb and flow of great waters and changing seasons. His descriptions of his everyday routine and observations will change your view of nature and life, revealing an intimacy seldom attained. All this comes from an unknown man from the same town on the Ohio River where I was born and lived during these events. I wish I had known of then then. He was at home as much in the Bayous as he was building his shantyboat and wintering through a flood on the Ohio. He is an artist and a musician and paints a picture you feel you are there. You can feel it and hear it and, by golly, you see yourself doing it too. You will enjoy it, even learn how to get your own soft-shell crabs in the bayous and make your own flour. If you have a love of mature, it is a book you should read.