Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb
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.
"No novelist captured the relentless devastation of the Dust Bowl of the 1930s, or the cruel treatment of the desperate 'Okies' forced to leave their homes on the Plains for California, better than Sanora Babb. In this biography, Iris Jamahl Dunkle explains why. Hardship, hunger and struggle, discrimination and stubborn prejudice, big dreams thwarted by fate and bad luck––these were also recurring elements of Babb's own remarkable personal story. But she met it all with an indomitable will, a vivaciously free spirit, and an unbending devotion to her artistic vision. Riding Like the Wind is a both heartbreaking and heroic tale that brings to vivid life an important American writer who never received the critical acclaim and commercial success she deserved."
—Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, producers of The Dust Bowl
“In my years of researching the lost historical stories of resilient women, few have resonated with me as much as Sanora Babb. A journalist and writer, she was a true trailblazer and a woman who deserves to be remembered for her contributions to both literature and history. This recognition and remembrance of her work is long overdue. I am thrilled that Dunkle has chosen to shine a light on the heartbreaking story of Babb's life and her remarkable novel about the Dust Bowl and the migration of workers to California during the Great Depression. I hope this book encourages readers to also read Whose Names Are Unknown, Babb's account of the period."
—Kristin Hannah, author of The Four Winds and The Women
"Dunkle is doing fascinating work as a biographer and cultural historian and makes it succeed because she is a brilliant and vivid storyteller."
—Robert Hass, Poet Laureate of the United States, 1995–1997
"This amazing book has changed forever my sense of what it really means to be an American. Dunkle joins today's ranks of women biographers who blow open a closed canon of novels and novelists with her keenly researched and powerfully written saga of the life and times of Sanora Babb. Babb should be read alongside Steinbeck by every high school kid—and Dunkle shows us why."
—Alicia Ostriker, New York State Poet, 2018–2021
"Dunkle, through her extensive research and passion for her subject, brings Sanora Babb, a vibrant woman ahead of her times, to life. And it's about time! Dunkle captures the spirit, not just the facts, of Babb's life. By meticulously reading her letters and other unpublished material, Dunkle gets the reader inside Babb's head and motivations, revealing an even more adventurous and complex life than previously imagined. Thanks to plentiful excerpts from Babb's work, the reader experiences and understands her compassion for the outsider and her intimate connection to nature as told through her lyrical writing style. This will be a movie—no doubt."
—Joanne Dearcopp, literary executor, agent, and friend of Sanora Babb
"A well-researched, empathetic biography."
— Kirkus Reviews
"Many are familiar with The Grapes of Wrath, but few know the author whose work was overshadowed by its publication: Sanora Babb. In Riding Like the Wind: The Life of Sanora Babb, Dunkle examines this fascinating midcentury American, whose meticulous notes and research formed the basis of John Steinbeck’s novel.”
— Alta
“Dunkle’s book may help elevate Babb’s status, not simply because it so thoroughly explores the Steinbeck affair but because it succeeds at doing what all good literary biographies do: It makes a case for reading old writing in new ways.”
— The Atlantic
“As a biographer, Iris Jamahl Dunkle has made it a calling to unearth the ‘lost voices’ of history and literature — talented, creative and accomplished women whose contributions have been underplayed, overlooked, suppressed and in some cases, ripped off.”
— Press Democrat
“By digging deeper, Dunkle uncovers a remarkable rebel — a woman who challenged social and political norms to defend her writing. She illuminates yet another woman forgotten in the annals of literary history. This biography not only revives a vital voice but reminds us of the many stories still buried in the past, ones that deserve to be dug up and told.”
— San Francisco Chronicle
"In contrast to the door-stopping volumes many contemporary biographers favor, Dunkle’s judicious account of Babb’s eventful life focuses on key experiences and relationships in a brisk text with plenty of meat and no fat. Babb comes across as a fiercely independent free spirit, loyal to those she loved. Riding Like the Wind is a welcome addition to the growing shelf of books devoted to enriching the literary canon with more voices and different points of view.”
— The Washington Post
“Who it’s for: Steinbeck fans and haters alike; readers of Kristin Hannah’s The Four Winds and the New York Times Overlooked column; anyone interested in learning more about the Dust Bowl migrants who fled to California hoping for a better life.”
— The Millions
“An exhaustively researched biography.”
— New York Times