The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth

by Bill Holm

Book Overview

Growing up, Bill Holm knew what failure was: "to die in Minneota." But after returning to his hometown ("a very small dot on an ocean of grass") after 20 years' absence, he wasn't so sure.

Finding pleasure in the customs and characters of small-town life, in The Heart Can Be Filled Anywhere on Earth he writes with affection about the town elders, seen by those in the outside world as misfits and losers.

"They taught...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 157131251X
• ISBN13: 9781571312518
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 230 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Through these pages, Holm's ancestors live again

Bill Holm writes very movingly about his parents, ancestors, and the people of the town of Minneota. It made me all the more interested in my own family's history. He writes with humor, understanding and compassion. He doesn't dwell too long on sentimentality; indeed, he warns us against it. He strives to show the character and (dare I say it?) soul of some of the notable people he knew in his youth. He has provided us with a wonderful book of essays.

This book about people in small places opened my heart.

Bill Holm has a gift with words and brings to life people long dead who had a strong impact on his life. As he opens up his past life, the reader's is also opened. Perhaps it was growing up in a small midwestern town that caused this book to strike a deep chord in me. However,I think it is his ability to bring out the gifts he was given by members of the community that helps all of us see similiar gifts in life.

Openings

Bill Holm again speaks softly, and humorously. As a sixteen year old whose first wish is to get out of rural Minnesota it is surprisingly nonthreatening. The only disappointing thing about this book is the omission of the author's poem, "Openings,"