{"product_id":"the-time-it-never-rained-volume-2-paperback","title":"The Time It Never Rained: Volume 2 - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eElmer Kelton\u003c\/b\u003e (Author), \u003cb\u003eTom Pilkington\u003c\/b\u003e (Afterword by)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the 1950s, West Texas suffered the longest drought in the memory of most men then living. By that time, Charlie Flagg, the central character of this novel, was one of a dying breed of men who wrested their living from the harsh land of West Texas. The struggle made them fiercely independent, a trait personified in Charlie's persistence throughout the seven dry years, his refusal to accept defeat, his opposition to federal aid programs and their inevitable bureaucratic regulations, his determination to stay on the land he loves and respects even as he suffers with that land. Charlie is by no means the typical cowboy hero. Self-sufficient, courageous, with a strong sense of right and wrong, he is also old and overweight, a thoroughly believable human being who has trouble communicating with the wife who loyally struggles to keep life in its pattern, the son who has no feel for the land but yearns for the rodeo circuit, the Mexican family who has worked for him for years and whose help he can no longer afford. Although Charlie never loses his dignity and never quits, he does not win out in the end. When the drought breaks, it has lasted too long and he is too old. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThere is no surprise ending to this story, no magical solution to the harsh realities of life in West Texas. The reading of this novel lies not in what happens next but in the unfolding depth of a strong character and the clear picture of a time and a place.\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eElmer Kelton is the author of over thirty novels set in the West and the recipient of awards from the Texas Institute of Letters, the National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Western Writers of America, the Western Literature Association, and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 378\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.01 x 9.06 x 5.91 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 01, 1984\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAccelerated Reader:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eQuiz Name:\u003c\/strong\u003e Time It Never Rained\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e Upper Grades, 9-12\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/strong\u003e 5.6\u003c\/div\u003e\n                \n                \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/strong\u003e 20\u003c\/div\u003e\n                ","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51752394555680,"sku":"9780912646893","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/004c8c0da8870c48ec7947c0eacce3d8_34d4e37e-c4ae-48b1-aec7-187ad30f7c20.webp?v=1779994720","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/the-time-it-never-rained-volume-2-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}