Rating: 
Summary: Interesting If Uneven Plains Impressions
Review: This book is interesting at times. Unfortunately, it is also uneven and uninspired in places. The author paints impressions of the Great Plains, that wide open part of America that makes up the midlands west of the Mississippi. There is no central theme or organized approach to this writing. It meanders with the pace of Plain's rivers and sometimes cuts back and forth like headwaters in their mountain birth places. Ian Frazier, the author, is good at describing Crazy Horse, for whom he feels strong admiration, mountain men, an ICBM system in Montana, black and white harmony in what may be the sole surviving Freedman's town in the Plains and other historical tidbits. At times his specific writings are engaging and filled with interesting anecdotes (so are his end notes, which are worth perusing). His various portrayals of aspects of Indian life are perhaps the most engaging parts of the book. However, at other times Frazier lays out pages where nothing much interesting happens in encounters he has with various folks of the Mid West. It almost seems as if journal entries had been inserted at various points to fill out the book -- entries that had not made it into the first draft. At one point he lists for several pages one and two sentence descriptions of inhabitants from one county around the turn of the Twentieth Century -- the type that one would find in a local census. The list isn't very illustrative and I wondered why he had thought it worthy after the first few entries proved they were plain folk about whom not much is known. Overall, I'd rate this 3 1/2 stars if Amazon had such a rating. The writing can be good and Frazier is witty in places (although overwrought in others). Some of the place descriptions and historic images are well done and hold the reader's attention. The scenes are disjointed and some uninteresting travel impressions of the author are interspersed throughout. I was left feeling that a book about as big an area as the Great Plains could have been less, well plain.
Rating:
Summary: Tumbling Tumbleweeds
Review: This book is not a tourist book of the Great Plains but rather some interesting vignettes of the area as perceived by the author, Ian Frazier,about a vast expanse of 'big sky' territory. Although not a history book, Frazier, weaves some interesting historical facts on a variety of people, places and subjects. Thus, we read about the great Indian warrior, Crazy Horse (a firm Frazier favourite), his adversary, Custer,and outlaws such as Billy the Kid and latter-day villains such as Bonnie and Clyde who all made appearances across the grand stage of the prairies. We also learn of the impact of the railways and the effect of migration on the region with the rail companies preferring German workers over the French or Italians. The miltary might of the USA is also portrayed as the author describes how parts of this seemingly tranquil territory has the capacity to effectively demolish the rest of the world, if American fire-power was ever fully unleashed. However, one thing the Russians were able to penetrate the US with was the humble tumbleweed. Frazier describes how they came originally from the Russian steppes. The author is something of a tumbling tumbleweed himself, moving as effortlessly from place to place in his rambles over this quintessential part of America. Such a book can only give a flavour of the many states that constitute the Great Plains region.What Frazier has done for this far-away reader is to interest me in reading the history of the region in greater detail. Perhaps Walter Prescott Webb's similarly named book, (The Great Plains), will provide the detail missing from Frazier's cameo piece.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to the Great Plains
Review: This book was recommended to me as a good read before embarking on a road trip to North Dakota this summer. It's a great portrait of the plains from someone who clearly loves them, and enjoys the contradiction of celebrating as heroes both Custer and Crazy Horse, Billy the Kid and Anabaptist settlers. Frazier has talent, but what he really needs is an editor. It's not that the book is long--in fact, it's an easy read--but it's uneven. The nearly stream-of-consciousness first chapter is brilliant, managing to evoke a trip to the Great Plains as being as much of an adventure now, when it's merely flyover, as it was when it was the frontier. And he does a very fine job of discussing the environmental degradation of the plains without letting the text get bogged down. But when he goes off on (another) stream-of-consciousness rhapsody about the joy inspired by a fashion show in small-town Kansas, it's embarrassing. And the ending chapter, set back in New York City, feels predictable and forced. But don't let these flaws deter you from buying this book. If you have any interest in the subject matter, it's an engrossing read that'll make you want to see the plains for yourself. Which I'll be doing very soon now.
Rating:
Summary: A good introduction to the Great Plains
Review: This book was recommended to me as a good read before embarking on a road trip to North Dakota this summer. It's a great portrait of the plains from someone who clearly loves them, and enjoys the contradiction of celebrating as heroes both Custer and Crazy Horse, Billy the Kid and Anabaptist settlers. Frazier has talent, but what he really needs is an editor. It's not that the book is long--in fact, it's an easy read--but it's uneven. The nearly stream-of-consciousness first chapter is brilliant, managing to evoke a trip to the Great Plains as being as much of an adventure now, when it's merely flyover, as it was when it was the frontier. And he does a very fine job of discussing the environmental degradation of the plains without letting the text get bogged down. But when he goes off on (another) stream-of-consciousness rhapsody about the joy inspired by a fashion show in small-town Kansas, it's embarrassing. And the ending chapter, set back in New York City, feels predictable and forced. But don't let these flaws deter you from buying this book. If you have any interest in the subject matter, it's an engrossing read that'll make you want to see the plains for yourself. Which I'll be doing very soon now.
Rating: 
Summary: Wonderful, funny, poignant, dazzlingly well written
Review: This is a wonderful book. I've read it several times and each time it knocks me out. It begins with six sentences in a row that end in exclamation marks and has a scene about a local fashion show that summarizes the lost possibilities of America as well as anything I've read. It tells the story of Indians in the plains and the story of white people and why the author decided never again to cut his hair. And it is a museum of writerly virtues -- Frazier seems incapable of putting together a sentence without an unexpected but perfect swerve in it towards the end.
Rating:
Summary: One of America's best essayists
Review: This is my favorite book of Frazier's. The section on Crazy Horse bears frequent rereading, and it's end, in which Frazier recites his reasons for liking Crazy Horse, is exceptional writing.
Rating:
Summary: Good, but something's missing here
Review: While I did enjoy Great Plains, I don't think this is Ian Frazier's greatest work. I found myself wanting more details of some of his experiences, and less description of general ideas. Frazier inconsistently took us through his own personal journey through the great plains. Sometimes the reader was reminded of his travel in his van, while other times his descriptions remained universal. Overall I enjoyed what Frazier had to say. I learned a lot about the areas that particularly interested him, such as Crazy Horse. I only wish there hadn't been so many gaps in the story.
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