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Local Wonders

Seasons in the Bohemian Alps

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About this listen

 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, including memories of his grandmother's cooking. And Kooser reminds us that the closing of local schools, thoughtless county weed control, and irresponsible housing development destroy more than just the view.

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, baking a pie, or decorating the house for Christmas can summon memories of his Iowa childhood.

This writer sees the extraordinary within the ordinary, the deep beneath the shallow, the abiding wisdom in the pithy Bohemian proverbs that are woven into his essays.

©2002 The University of Nebraska Press (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Art & Literature Authors North America Travel Writing & Commentary United States Witty

Critic reviews

"Ted Kooser's Local Wonders is the quietest magnificent book I've ever read." (Jim Harrison, author of Legends of the Fall)
"Local Wonders should be read and reread. It is a treasure." ( Dallas Morning News)
"A series of sometimes sparkling, other times electrifying, and always engaging scenes that read like a poet's diary." ( Colorado Review)
All stars
Most relevant
Living memories, observations and reflections of a poet’s life. Yes, a story, of sorts; and, yes, it is refreshing to listen as Ted Kooser remembers one thing after another from his life. All the small things, often passed by or forgotten, which make up our experience. These are descriptions, not poems, and without “purple passages”; yet always with the writer’s feeling for image or metaphor. We learn that it is the small, personal, local things which are important. These are the warp and weft of our being here, each and every one of us. No need to think big, of Great Achievements, Major Works or Peak Performances. The wonder is in the daily, the ordinary. And this is wonder-ful to listen to, or read. Take it slowly, leave it and come back, a bit at a time… .

When is a story not a story?

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