Books in Brief: Keith County Journal

Keith County Journal, by John Janovy Jr. (St. Martin’s, 210 pp., $8.95). They call gullies rivers in western Nebraska and the folds between them hills. Trees, where there are any, tower like monuments above the prairie grass. In that unspectacular country the singers of nature’s praises celebrate the beauty of small things. John Janovy, a biology professor from Lincoln, writes sympathetically about bugs, birds, fish, and snails. He finds admirable qualities in one-celled parasites and learns lessons from termites that feed on cow patties. The close study of lowly creatures converts him finally to transcendentalism. “Since Keith County has taught us we are not so very different after all from snails and swallows, we must wonder whether the plan that brought us here together might not be more general, more all-encompassing than we realized.” On the barren plains men see visions and dream dreams. The theological detour is brief, though. Keith County Journal is no tract; rather, it presents, with endearing modesty, the ruminations of a happy man. Janovy delights in the calls of kingbirds. He is at home knee-deep in muck bagging flies. Biology fascinates him, and he possesses the wherewithal to share the magic. His sensitive descriptions of landscape and seasons remind one of Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac. When he adeptly reveals the workings of marsh ecology in terms of automobile expenses and family obligations, he resembles the gentle E. B. White, whose barnyard animals shed new light on world affairs. Like these men, Janovy occasionally stretches himself thin. Certain of his analogies fall flat; certain ideas, though clothed respectably, are silly. But also like them, he speaks in a narrative voice both youthful and wise. He elucidates small wonders with abundant charm.

PH

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Paul T. Hornak

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Keith County Journal, by John Janovy Jr. (St. Martin’s, 210 pp., $8.95). They call gullies rivers in western Nebraska and the folds between them hills. Trees, where there are any, tower like monuments above the prairie grass. In that unspectacular country the singers of nature’s praises celebrate the beauty of small things. John Janovy, a biology professor from Lincoln, writes sympathetically about bugs, birds, fish, and snails. He finds admirable qualities in one-celled parasites and learns lessons from termites that feed on cow patties. The close study of lowly creatures converts him finally to transcendentalism. “Since Keith County has taught us we are not so very different after all from snails and swallows, we must wonder whether the plan that brought us here together might not be more general, more all-encompassing than we realized.” On the barren plains men see visions and dream dreams. The theological detour is brief, though. Keith County Journal is no tract; rather, it presents, with endearing modesty, the ruminations of a happy man. Janovy delights in the calls of kingbirds. He is at home knee-deep in muck bagging flies. Biology fascinates him, and he possesses the wherewithal to share the magic. His sensitive descriptions of landscape and seasons remind one of Aldo Leopold’s Sand County Almanac. When he adeptly reveals the workings of marsh ecology in terms of automobile expenses and family obligations, he resembles the gentle E. B. White, whose barnyard animals shed new light on world affairs. Like these men, Janovy occasionally stretches himself thin. Certain of his analogies fall flat; certain ideas, though clothed respectably, are silly. But also like them, he speaks in a narrative voice both youthful and wise. He elucidates small wonders with abundant charm.