"In all the region of autobiographyI do not know quite the like of Mr. Garland's story
of his life, and I should rank it with the very greatest of that kind of literature."William Dean Howells,
New York Times Review of Books

A Son of the Middle Border is an epic story of the quest for new frontiers during the last half
of the nineteenth century, and of the gradual, heartbreaking failure of America's pioneer ideal.

Drawing on the history of his own family, Pulitzer Prize winner Hamlin Garland chronicles the experiences
of a generation. A Son of the Middle Border, Garland's bittersweet narrative of growing up on
Wisconsin, Iowa, and South Dakota farms, captures in vivid, moving detail the stories of the thousands of
courageous and optimistic Americans who sought new and prosperous lives on the mid-western frontier
and discovered not only the grandeur of the plains but the immense toll nature demands from those who
try to tame the land.

Hamlin Garland (1860-1940) was an American writer born in West Salem, Wisconsin. In short stories, verse, and novels, he vividly described the farm life of the Midwest. A Daughter of the Middle Border, the sequel to his autobiographical A Son of the Middle Border, won the Pulitzer Prize.

Grover Gardner, named one of the "Best Voices of the Century" by AudioFile magazine, has recorded more than five hundred audiobooks. He is the recipient of more than thirteen Earphones Awards as well as an Audie Award. In addition to narrating, he has an active career as an actor and stage director. He lives in Washington, D.C.