A Rural Odyssey

About the Book

A Rural Odyssey: Living Can Be Dangerous is the story of Mick O’Brien’s growing-up years on a small wheat farm in Central Kansas in the 1940s and 1950s. It tells of his Catholic Irish American pioneering farm parents, the religious and moral beliefs of their traditions, and the consequences of living the same way. Mick and his siblings inherited their traditions. The growing of their own food, the farm chores, the raising and caring of livestock, the field work on the tractor, and the harvest that provides the family subsistence, but not without danger. School, sports, having fun with buddies, and imaginary games filled Mick’s teenage years. Music, singing, playing the guitar, and a special friendship are an important chapter of that time as well but with unplanned consequences. Unforeseen challenges and the unpredictable dangers of life filled O’Brien’s days. Work and play, joy and sadness, Mick tells it all as it happened.

About the Author

Mark J. Curran is a retired professor from Arizona State University where he worked from 1968 to 2011.He taught Spanish and Portuguese and their respective cultures. Mark's research specialty was Brazil and its "popular literature in verse" or the "literatura de cordel," and he has published many articles in academic reviews and sixteen books related to the "cordel" in Brazil, the United States and Spain. Other books either are of autobiographic nature - "The Farm" or "Coming of Age with the Jesuits" - or reflect classes taught at ASU. The latter are in the series "Stories I Told My Students:" books on Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. "Letters from Brazil" is an early experiment combining reporting and fiction. "A Professor Takes to the Sea I and II" are chronicles of a retirement adventure with Lindblad Expeditions on the National Explorer Ship. "Letters II" is a continued experiment in combining fact and fiction. Lastly, "A Rural Odyssey" is Mark's most recent effort - making fiction of the farm experience.