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Sweet Promised Land, 50th ed.
By Robert Laxalt and Ann Ronald
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Dominique Laxalt was sixteen when he left the French Pyrenees for America. He became a sheepherder in the Nevada desert and nearby hills of the Sierra. Like all his fellow Basque immigrants, Dominique dreamed of someday returning to the land of his beginnings. Most Basques never made the journey back, but Dominique finally did return for a visit with family and friends. Sweet Promised Land is the story of that trip, told by his son Robert, who accompanied him to the pastoral mountain village of Tardets in France. Dominique came home victorious, the adventurer who had conquered the unknown and found his fortune in the New World. He told of his life in America, the hardships and challenges, and began to realize that he had changed since his departure from Tardets. By the end of the visit, he knew with certainty where he belonged.
During the past fifty years, this book has become a classic in Western American literature, still beloved by the Basque-American community. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the book’s publication, western literature scholar Ann Ronald wrote a new foreword, discussing the book in the context of American and Nevada literature.
Dominique Laxalt was sixteen when he left the French Pyrenees for America. He became a sheepherder in the Nevada desert and nearby hills of the Sierra. Like all his fellow Basque immigrants, Dominique dreamed of someday returning to the land of his beginnings. Most Basques never made the journey back, but Dominique finally did return for a visit with family and friends. Sweet Promised Land is the story of that trip, told by his son Robert, who accompanied him to the pastoral mountain village of Tardets in France. Dominique came home victorious, the adventurer who had conquered the unknown and found his fortune in the New World. He told of his life in America, the hardships and challenges, and began to realize that he had changed since his departure from Tardets. By the end of the visit, he knew with certainty where he belonged.
During the past fifty years, this book has become a classic in Western American literature, still beloved by the Basque-American community. In celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the book’s publication, western literature scholar Ann Ronald wrote a new foreword, discussing the book in the context of American and Nevada literature.
Related to Sweet Promised Land, 50th ed.
Titles in the series (28)
Aurrera!: A Textbook for Studying Basque, Volume 2 Basque Firsts: People Who Changed the World Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Speaking Through the Aspens: Basque Tree Carvings in California and Nevada Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBack to Bizkaia: A Basque-American Memoir Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPolitics, Culture, and Sociability in the Basque Nationalist Party Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAurrera!: A Textbook for Studying Basque, Volume 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGernika, 1937: The Market Day Massacre Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReclaiming Basque: Language, Nation, and Cultural Activism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Basque Language: A Practical Introduction Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5An Enduring Legacy: The Story Of Basques In Idaho Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Sweet Promised Land, 50th ed. Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Basque Immigrants and Nevada's Sheep Industry: Geopolitics and the Making of an Agricultural Workforce, 1880-1954 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Circle of Mountains: A Basque Shepherding Community Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Basques in the Philippines Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Amerikanuak: Basques In The New World Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Basque Violence: Metaphor And Sacrament Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Identity, Culture, And Politics In The Basque Diaspora Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Social Roots Of Basque Nationalism Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJaialdi: A Celebration of Basque Culture Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasque Nationalism and the Spanish State Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnfit For Marriage: Impotent Spouses On Trial In The Basque Region Of Spain, 1650-1750 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWar, Judgment, and Memory in the Basque Borderlands, 1914-1945 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasque-English, English-Basque Dictionary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHome Away From Home: A History of Basque Boardinghouses Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Land of My Fathers: A Son's Return to the Basque Country Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhite Dove, Tell Me: A Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBasque-English Dictionary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEnglish-Basque Dictionary Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for Sweet Promised Land, 50th ed.
Rating: 4.1999999 out of 5 stars
4/5
10 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This book is an absolute gem. The Laxalt family became a prominent and well know family in Nevada. Paul Laxalt becoming the governer and a senator for the state of Nevada. Robert Laxalt became a celebrated author whose funeral at the University of Nevada several years ago was one of the largest in state history. In this book he tells the story of his father's experience as a immigrant Basque sheep herder. The rise and fall of family fortune's and the hard luck of raising stock in a terrain of terrible and exacting beauty. The story culminates in a vist home for Dominique, the father. He travels with his son Robert to visit the place of his birth and to see relatives he has not seen in 50 years. It is Dominique's story but mirrors many other immigrant's stories. The author tells this simple story with obvious love and admiration for his father who has been a bit of an enigma to the children raised in America.
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Sweet Promised Land, 50th ed. - Robert Laxalt
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