House of Earth

<p>Finished in 1947 and lost to readers until now <em>House of Earth</em> is legendary folk singer and American icon Woody Guthrie's only finished novel. A powerful portrait of Dust Bowl America it's the story of an ordinary couple's dreams of a better life and their search for love and meaning in a corrupt world.<br /><br />Tike and Ella May Hamlin are struggling to plant roots in the arid land of the Texas panhandle. The husband and wife live in a precarious wooden farm shack but Tike yearns for a sturdy house that will protect them from the treacherous elements. Thanks to a five-cent government pamphlet Tike has the know-how to build a simple adobe dwelling a structure made from the land itself--fireproof windproof Dust Bowl-proof. A house of earth.<br /><br />A story of rural realism and progressive activism and in many ways a companion piece to Guthrie's folk anthem This Land Is Your Land <em>House of Earth</em> is a searing portrait of hardship and hope set against a ravaged landscape. Combining the moral urgency and narrative drive of John Steinbeck with the erotic frankness of D. H. Lawrence here is a powerful tale of America from one of our greatest artists.<br /><br />An essay by bestselling historian Douglas Brinkley and Johnny Depp introduce <em>House of Earth</em> the inaugural title in Depp's imprint at HarperCollins Infinitum Nihil.</p>