Books & Books presents

IRIS JAMAHL DUNKLE
discussing her latest book
RIDING LIKE THE WIND: THE LIFE OF SANORA BABB

Friday, March 14th, 6:30pm ET
Doors open at 6:00pm
Hugh's View - 533 Eaton Street

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.

About the Author: 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.

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This is an in-person event taking place outdoors. 
Registering ahead of time helps us to plan for a successful event but is not required.
In the event that attendance reaches capacity registered guests will be seated first.

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Praise for Riding Like the Wind

"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

“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

“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

"Iris Jamahl Dunkle’s excellent new biography of Babb tells the story of the largely forgotten writer, and Steinbeck has nothing to do with many of the most gripping chapters, which show how Babb’s destitute heartland childhood shaped her keen empathy."
— ARTS

"Writing in fits and starts, being both ahead of her time and told she was 'too late,' Babb perhaps worked against the wind more than she was able to 'ride' it. Yet the recovery of her extraordinary life and career, though long overdue, may at last allow us to say: Babb’s time is now."
— Los Angeles Review of Books

"This biography revisits the remarkable life of an author whose account of the Great Depression might have been seminal — if John Steinbeck hadn’t barely beaten her to it. But that hardly scratches the surface of a colorful history that also included friendships and affairs with literary luminaries."
— The Washington Post, 50 notable works of nonfiction from 2024

“Iris Jamahl Dunkle’s biography is not merely a kind of restitution but a thrilling recovery of Babb and the world she portrayed so convincingly in her novels, stories, and poetry.”
— The New York Sun

“This book has really stuck with me. The imagery that Iris Jamahl Dunkle colors the book with is outstanding, and Sanora Babb’s life was so fascinating. This one had me reading like the wind, if you’ll pardon a pun I’m sure 10,000 other reviewers made.”
— Unruly Figures