'A New Home, Who Will Follow?' by Caroline Kirkland

When the author, Caroline Kirkland, decided to write about her neighbors in frontier Michigan all she did to cover herself was change the names. Why her insight into frontier life and values are interesting and funny she got in trouble for it. After that her writing would never be as honest. And I hope she also learned something about pacing, run on sentences, and focus. The only problem I had really with her first work is not her work, but the long introduction to the book by Sandra A. Zagarell which gives you a summary of the book you are about to read plus a summary of the author's life. Most of the time I would welcome such information to help me truly understand the book. But the introduction is 31 pages long and that is not counting the Notes to the introduction. I would state that it is a must for understanding frontier life, but being a satire that would be like saying that Blazing Saddles is a good source for life in the Old West. I would suggest getting it, cheap, and reading on one of those weekends, or weeks, when you're ill or something.