Prairie-Town Boy Summary
Carl Sandburg

Prairie-Town Boy Summary

Prairie-Town Boy is the autobiography of the poet and historian Carl Sandburg, written when he was in his seventies.

Adapted for young readers from the longer Always the Young Strangers, which the New York Times called the greatest autobiography ever written by an American, the book tells of Sandburg's boyhood in Galesburg, Illinois, and continues through his entrance into college. In these memoirs, Sandburg recalls the people, places, and experiences that influenced his youth, including those that led to his deep respect for the common person and to his interest in the life of Abraham Lincoln. The book shows the role that immigrants—particularly Swedes—played in the settling of the Midwest, and in effect presents a social history of America in the 1880s and 1890s.

(read more from the Short Guide)