HARD SCRABBLE: OBSERVATIONS ON A PATCH OF LAND.
INSCRIBED TO A FELLOW TEXAS WRITER
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New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1974. xi,267pp. Yellow cloth, title in gilt on the spine. The jacket photograph is by Bill Wittliff. First edition, first printing. INSCRIBED on the half-title to fellow Texas writer, Bryan Woolley. The book is a fine copy. The unclipped dust jacket has a tiny abrasion at the top of the spine, overall near fine. In 1960, Graves bought 400 acres of worn-out land in Somervell County. He recounts with wry humor and superb “word pictures” his efforts to reclaim and rebuild the land. As with his first novel, Goodbye to a River, Graves blends in the history of the Indian tribes which once lived on the land as well as the early settlers who knew nothing of land stewardship and cared less.
