South of the Big Four

By Don Kurtz

Book Overview

Set in the farm country of north central Indiana, just south of the Big Four railroad tracks, this extraordinary first novel tells the story of 30-year-old Arthur Conason, who returns after many years... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 038072765X
• ISBN13: 9780380727650
• Release Date: January 1996
• Publisher: Avon Books
• Length: 371 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.3" x 1.3" x 5.3"

Customer Reviews

Absolutely brilliant and remarkable

I purchased this book probably 5 years ago in a bargain bin and it is without a doubt my most favoutrite novel of the nearly one hundred I have read. Kurtz paints such a vivid portrait of what so many either ignore or find mundane. I found it striking how Gerry Maars, the eventual owner of Arthur Conason's home farm, instead of being the evil villan actually became an idol of sorts to Arthur. Unique and compelling, there simply is not many novels that will come close to matching the dialogue, imagery or poignancy that this book has.

Totally great writing

I read this book when it first came out. I loved every part of it. During the days I read it, I actually felt as though I was out in the farmland among these characters. Sadly, I have been trying to find books of similar writing and settings, but it hasn't panned out. Hopefully, more books of equal caliber are on the way from this talented author.

A review from Indiana

This is, simply, one of my favorite books. I first read it three years ago, and still think of these great characters as I drive past fluttering cornfields and bean fields on my way to work. I know a woman who named her cat after Annie Leroux, Arthur's love interest. These things don't come easily. People don't ordinarily take such things from a novel. Kurtz hasn't written a "Midwestern" novel, whatever that is; he's plumbed the pipes of what it means to be one of our earthly kind.

this is one of the best books I've ever read

This gentle tour de force is a quintessentially American story yet unlike anything I've read. The characters are original and unforgettable. Five or six times in the course of reading the work, you think you know where Kurtz is going -- but you don't. The language is beautiful throughout but its not an end in itself -- there's a very great, very real story here and its heartbreaking. What whisky is in Hemmingway, work is here. Don't laugh -- unless you can write better than Kurtz.

An honest account of the hardships faced by today's farmers

I live in the Midwest, surrounded by farms and farmland. However, I am not involved in the farming industry and I have never had much interest in farmers or their lifestyle until I read Don Kurtz's South of the Big Four. Kurtz follows thirty year old Arthur Conason who returns from the shipping industry along the Great Lakes to the farm in north central Indiana that his father once owned. Arthur soon finds himself living in his old house and working for Gerry Marrs, the man who now owns his father's farm as well as several other farms scattered across Haskell County. Told from Arthur's point-of-view, one begins to see the tedious yet necessary processes that make up farming. In addition, the dangers involved in raising crops are evident as well. As Arthur and Gerry struggle to pull their final crops out of a field that is being blanketed with snow, I found myself mentally cheering them on, hoping they would outwit the naysayer of the county as well as the uncontrollable elements. South of the Big Four is filled with rich and complex, men and women, none completely likeable. Yet, like one would with their own frustrating relatives, a reader will find themselves giving the characters a chance for redemption when they become disappointing or discouraging in their actions. One can only hope that this time Kurtz's characters come through for one another. And often, in their own dysfunctional way, they do. Don Kurtz has created a novel filled with hardships, realistic family struggles, and honest romance that may be crushing at times but true to what we experience each day. South of the Big Four has done what John Mellencamp and Farm Aid has been trying to do for years. It has helped me to better understand and respect those individuals who are tied so closely to our country's land. Consequently, I will never look at another field of crops in quite the same way.