Back in Keith County

by John Janovy Jr. and John Janovy

Book Overview

"Good biologist though [Janovy] is, he's an even better nature writer, with a special affinity for the mysterious and the mystic."-Noel Perrin "This 'human need for wilderness' is the trail winding through Back in Keith County . . . [to] the streams of John Janovy's 'inner cowboy country.' The fourteen essays are a very human mix of biology, sentiment, wandering observation and personal philosophy."-Smithsonian John Janovy Jr. is Varner Professor...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0803275609
• ISBN13: 9780803275607
• Release Date: February 1984
• Publisher: Bison Books
• Length: 181 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Another Janovy Gem!

John Janovy is an excellent writer. His most recent book on his field work in Nebraska, "Back in Keith County", seems to me his best and I'm surprise that nobody has reviewed it. Janovy makes the field research that he and his students conducted along the Platte come alive. His discussions of creatures (fish, toads, tiger beetles, etc.) of and around mud holes, ponds and the river are at times quirky, but totally authentic. The main thrust of these studies is on the parasites that attack these creatures and the research often has practical implications beyond just "natural history." His descriptions of the local people are classic and very sympathetic. He knows these people well. I to some extent identify with him, as I have spent more than a few summers doing research on ranches and farms around New Mexico, especially in the high plains, which are not that different from those in Nebraska. I got to know several of the ranchers fairly well. These were for the most part very kind people who were interested in what I was doing and seemed to enjoy talking to me about it. I recommend Janovy's book highly as an anecdote for the often unfair views of the plains and its inhabitants, both animal and human. They all deserve better and Janovy given us the present of his insight on this subject to the reader of this under appreciated volume.