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A USA Today Bestseller
"This absorbing biography, written with both affection and admiration, shows Babb as one of the most indefatigable characters in American literary history."—The New Republic
This saga of a writer done dirty resurrects the silenced voice of Sanora Babb, peerless author of midcentury American literature.
In 1939, when John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published, it became an instant bestseller and a prevailing narrative in the nation's collective imagination of the era. But it also stopped the publication of another important novel, silencing a gifted writer who was more intimately connected to the true experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. In Riding Like the Wind, renowned biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle revives the groundbreaking voice of Sanora Babb.
Dunkle follows Babb from her impoverished childhood in eastern Colorado to California. There, she befriended the era's literati, including Ray Bradbury and Ralph Ellison; entered into an illegal marriage; and was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was Babb's field notes and oral histories of migrant farmworkers that Steinbeck relied on to write his novel. But this is not merely a saga of literary usurping; on her own merits, Babb's impact was profound. Her life and work feature heavily in Ken Burns's award-winning documentary The Dust Bowl and inspired Kristin Hannah in her bestseller The Four Winds. Riding Like the Wind reminds us with fresh awareness that the stories we know—and who tells them—can change the way we remember history.
"This absorbing biography, written with both affection and admiration, shows Babb as one of the most indefatigable characters in American literary history."—The New Republic
This saga of a writer done dirty resurrects the silenced voice of Sanora Babb, peerless author of midcentury American literature.
In 1939, when John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath was published, it became an instant bestseller and a prevailing narrative in the nation's collective imagination of the era. But it also stopped the publication of another important novel, silencing a gifted writer who was more intimately connected to the true experiences of Dust Bowl migrants. In Riding Like the Wind, renowned biographer Iris Jamahl Dunkle revives the groundbreaking voice of Sanora Babb.
Dunkle follows Babb from her impoverished childhood in eastern Colorado to California. There, she befriended the era's literati, including Ray Bradbury and Ralph Ellison; entered into an illegal marriage; and was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee. It was Babb's field notes and oral histories of migrant farmworkers that Steinbeck relied on to write his novel. But this is not merely a saga of literary usurping; on her own merits, Babb's impact was profound. Her life and work feature heavily in Ken Burns's award-winning documentary The Dust Bowl and inspired Kristin Hannah in her bestseller The Four Winds. Riding Like the Wind reminds us with fresh awareness that the stories we know—and who tells them—can change the way we remember history.
Price: $24.95
Pages: 416
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
03 February 2026
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520430785
Format: Paperback
BISACs:
"A well-researched, empathetic biography."
Iris Jamahl Dunkle is an award-winning biographer, essayist, and poet. Her previous titles include the biography Charmian Kittredge London: Trailblazer, Author, Adventurer and the poetry collection West : Fire : Archive.
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Cheyenne Riding Like the Wind
2 A Dugout on the High Plains
3 The House on Horse Creek
4 “Study Like a House Afire”
5 Finding Venus
6 The Poet of Kansas
7 “Fling This Wild Song”
8 The Writers’ Congress
9 “I Demand You Write More Shamelessly and Nakedly”
10 “You Can’t Eat the Scenery”
11 Whose Names Are Unknown
12 The Changed World
13 She Felt Like the Wind
14 “Follow That Furrow”
15 “I Do Not Wish to Be Less than I Am”
16 The Lost Traveler
17 “Dust on [Her] Own Hills”
18 An Owl on Every Post
19 The Recovery of Whose Names Are Unknown
Epilogue: “She Deserved Better”
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Cheyenne Riding Like the Wind
2 A Dugout on the High Plains
3 The House on Horse Creek
4 “Study Like a House Afire”
5 Finding Venus
6 The Poet of Kansas
7 “Fling This Wild Song”
8 The Writers’ Congress
9 “I Demand You Write More Shamelessly and Nakedly”
10 “You Can’t Eat the Scenery”
11 Whose Names Are Unknown
12 The Changed World
13 She Felt Like the Wind
14 “Follow That Furrow”
15 “I Do Not Wish to Be Less than I Am”
16 The Lost Traveler
17 “Dust on [Her] Own Hills”
18 An Owl on Every Post
19 The Recovery of Whose Names Are Unknown
Epilogue: “She Deserved Better”
Notes
Bibliography
Index