Prairie Fire

By Val H. Usle

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0805947639
• ISBN13: 9780805947632
• Release Date: August 1999
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Company, Incorporated
• Length: 272 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.8" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Prairie Fire

This is the best book I have read in a long time. It certainly shows what a twisted thing democracy is,and that, of course,is the point. I would;ve given it 5 stars, but for the fact that it could be a little more descriptive as to where the current setting is (Prairie Fire skips around in the middle of chapters with no particular reference to it). I couldn't put the book down until I finished it for its spell-binding plot. Very interesting book. I hope all future readers enjoy it.

Carthage and Midwestern Common Sense

This book deals with modern law in a rural setting. Mr. Usle has created a story of nature and politics. Farmers of the land vs. the law of the land. It is as if the reader is sitting on top of the proverbial water tank that towers above each small Midwestern town, a vantagepoint for this story of politics and common sense. Just as the photo of the author shows on the back, the water tank of Carthage in the background, I couldn't help but look up the historical details and see how ancient Carthage was a threat to the Roman Government and destroyed. However, not until Hannibal, a Carthagian general, had crossed the Alps with his troops and his war elephants. If I know the author, he was waxing philosophic with a twist of a good joke.It starts with an accident in the fields of wheat, in an area ecologically protected by State law. Under the risk of arrest, neighbors rally to the aid of this family's tragedy. As if a natural disaster, the story snowballs into a story of common people rebelling against the absurdity of politics and law - "... The rulebook and bureaucracy are the first things to go when a tornado or flood hits a town."The comparison of a natural disaster to one that's manmade sums up the underlying theme of this book. The metaphor of the Mississippi River overflowing its banks, with the National Guard and townspeople struggling to keep it from destroying their town, is used to show the reaction of the same citizen to the manmade disaster of a broken parole system and the enforcement of absurd environmental law.I would recommend this book for those who enjoy stories of common sense delivered with poignant irony.

Great Read for the Plane Trip

I found this book to be a quick read. It kept me captivated on a plane trip to Tokyo and really helped the time go by. All the characters are believable, passionate, three dimensional and believable. I found most of the conclusions about legal cases and political situations to be plausible and convincing. The only criticism I have is that I feel the story wraps up to quickly, I would have loved another 50-75 pages of detail. So the simple truth is that I believe for his first full-length fiction novel Mr. Usle has shown himself to be a writer with talent. I hope that he will continue with his writing to give us more. Recently I sat down to reread this story as I wait for some of my other favorite writers to release a new book and still enjoyed the reading. The story is on par with West Wing and Commander and Chief. In today's interesting political climate this story will get you asking what you can personally do to change the course of politics in your town and beyond.