Impulse grab from a thrift store (? garage sale?) because of the cover image of the cowboy in the grocery store. Turns out to be more of a memoir of this young man finding his place in life, trying to be upright and honorable despite the fact that he could easily have become a drunk or a neurotic on a couch. Surprisingly mesmerizing - even though we never do learn a whole lot about the secret lives of other cowboys and ranchers. I just gotta say, though, that his wife Jennifer is an *amazing* young woman and I have hope they're still very happy together.

ETA quotes:

Men secretly fear a death that will reduce their lives to an anecdote. You don't want to be out riding one day have your horse step in a prairie-dog hole and throw you.... there is something more romantic, more acceptable, about breaking your neck in a rodeo arena. There are identical deaths, but very different ways to die. So, too, similar lives but different ways to live."

When Tom goes to a psychologist, he explains:
"In my family, we seek our own counsel. There is very little time devoted to emotional temperature-taking.... so when I finally decide that things are beyond my control, I am confessing to myself that I can no longer grit my teeth and muscle my way through the problems.... I know that I am hurting myself and those closest to me and that it cannot go on without doing some lasting damage."

" ( )

I read this book for "One Book Billings" for May 2014. This is a story of a young man who strikes out to learn about cowboying and actually learns about himself and his place in the world. Along the way he marries and starts a family and this adds to his search for his place. He has several starts and stops along the way, but finally finds how he fits into the bigger picture. ( )

This book is one that really grew on me. Don't judge it by its cover or its title, because neither seem a good fit to me. It's a thoughtful, frank memoir of a man searching for a new life, trying to live his dream. Groneberg always wanted to be a cowboy, to live close to cattle and horses, to love the land. He gets a job leading trail rides for tourists, then works as a hired hand on a ranch, and finally gets his dream- a ranch of his very own. But all along he struggles to fit in, to learn skills kids around him have mastered, to understand simple things that no one bothers to explain because they assume it's common knowledge. He struggles at managing the ranch. The ending surprised me. It's not all happy. Love for the big open skies, wide fields and animals shines through the pages, but so does the heartache at difficulties and failings. The ending is not what I expected at first, but it felt complete.

from the Dogear Diary ( )

What little boy doesn't think about becoming a cowboy when he grows up? Tom Groneberg actually did it; he left his home near Chicago and took a job as a ranch hand in Montana. Even if you are not interested in ranching, you may be surprised to find you have an unexpected urge to relocate to the West and raise cattle after reading this beautifully written book. Favorite Quote: "It begins with a poem, a haiku: 'Hard work with horses in a beautiful setting. Write for more info.'" ( )

A good but strange book. He's always feeling like an inadequate outsider, though he has an apparently wonderful wife and his parents buy him a ranch in Montana. After one hard year he decides he's failed and goes into therapy. But he writes the book from such a distance we don't see many feelings, much less anything about his wife. Good nature/animal descriptions though. ( )