Red Dirt Country

“From the towering flight of the Mississippi kite to issues of fire and wind, the Oklahoma red earth country has found its singer.”—Shelley Armitage, author of Writing the Llano: A Texas Memoir of Place
 

“Whether he’s writing about Mississippi kites or coyotes, blackjack oaks or eastern redcedars, tornadoes or wildfires, John Gifford approaches his subjects with great intellectual probity and infectious enthusiasm.”—Andrew Furman, author of Bitten: My Unexpected Love Affair with Florida
 

“Red Dirt Country is an imaginative contribution to literature. John Gifford successfully intertwines microcosm and macrocosm, leading readers deeply into the Oklahoma plains and asking them to explore their own relationships to the world as a whole.”—Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, author of Oklahomeland: Essays
 

“Collectively, these field notes and essays overturn the stereotypical perceptions of the Great Plains as unpopulated, treeless, monotonous, and geographically and biologically austere. For Gifford, if one looks closely, one discovers that this region has remarkable environmental diversity that is irreplaceable.” —Western American Literature
 

“This book, while occasionally flowery, accomplishes its purpose. Through reading it, one becomes more aware of the nature of nature, including humanity’s place within. Its use of personal anecdotes allows a reader to form a deeper connection to the subject matter than scientific fact alone could manage, and Gifford encourages introspection on outcomes of various interactions with the natural world.” —Southwestern American Literature
 

“Gifford paints a picture of the Plains as a complex and interesting place to call home. Gifford builds on common themes of Plains literature and adds a modern twist – tackling issues like unsustainable development and climate change and issuing warnings of biodiversity loss and increasingly dangerous wildfires. These references make an already compelling narrative even more important…this is a well-written monograph and a worthwhile read for anyone invested in the Plains, the environment, or a sense of home.”—Great Plains Quarterly
 

“Gifford isn’t just writing about Red Dirt Country. He has first thought seriously about Red Dirt Country…Throughout the book, readers will find themselves grateful John Gifford chose his own home in Edmond, in Oklahoma, in the American West, and in literary space.”—Concho River Review