In this work of creative nonfiction, author Kate Benz provides an
intimate look at the present-day residents of Courtland, Kansas
(population 285), a town whose economy depends almost entirely on
agriculture.Through charming, first-person accounts, Nothing but
the Dirt: Stories from an American Farm Town tells the whole story
of life in Courtland, bucking the "Rural America is dying"
narrative that so often proliferates national headlines about
small-town USA. Throughout the book, Benz paints a picture of
community that is unwilling to give up on each other. Macro-level
issues such as rising tariffs, operation costs versus sinking
commodity prices, and infusions of federal farm subsidies affect
the locals' daily livelihood, but it's their love of their
community that continues their collective efforts to keep Main
Street open for business and Courtland on the map. These are the
stories from one corner of rural America, told through the people
who live there: the fourth-generation farmers, the young
professionals, the transplants, the small business owners (many of
whom are women)-a community that is nuclear, blended, straight,
gay, red, blue, religious, and anything but. Young people who grew
up in Courtland are moving back to raise their kids there, but
instead of farming, they are opening breweries, boutiques,
marketing agencies, or hair salons. They love rural life but want a
new way to define it. Courtland is a community that is unwaveringly
determined to keep their corner of rural America not only alive but
thriving, refusing to let challenges define or deter them. Instead,
they continuously find creative ways to overcome, adapt, improve,
and move forward.
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