Big Bend

A Homesteader's Story

By: J.O. Langford

Narrated by: Peter Lerman

Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

To the wild and fabulous country where the Rio Grande makes its big bend, J. O. Langford came in 1909 with his wife and daughter in search of health and a home. High on a bluff overlooking the spot where Tornillo Creek pours its waters into the turbulent Rio Grande, the Langfords built their home, a rude structure of adobe blocks in a land reputed to be inhabited only by bandits and rattlesnakes. Big Bend is the story of the Langfords' life in the rugged and spectacularly beautiful country which they came to call their own. Langford's account is told with the help of Fred Gipson, author of Old Yeller and Hound Dog Man.

The book is published by University of Texas.

"Big Bend...is the story of a way of life, beautiful in its simplicity, a story that can be read again and again for it is a book of substance." (New York Herald Tribune)

"Not a big book this, but as warming to the senses and to the heart as a mesquite fire on the open hearth. It is, also, a book that reflects a commonality of the Western experience of this Nation - a homesteader's story." (San Francisco Chronicle)

"This is one of those rare books of actual experience with the smooth continuity of the best fiction." (Houston Chronicle)

©2010 Love M. Whitaker (P)2019 Redwood Audiobooks

Big Bend Adventure

Big Bend - a Homesteader's Story
: J O Langford and Fred

A very good historical story of homesteading around 1909 in Big Bend area. The listener is transported back to a time when it took hard work and determination just to survive. Very easy to listen to and enjoy.



The narration was well done. The characters were well portrayed by Peter Lerman.



I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Great for preparing for trip to Big Bend NP

Interesting history of Big Bend area of Texas. Author gives helpful details of life and landscape. Great read for a road trip to Big Bend National Park.

Great Memories

I was nice hearing the names of places we visited and times we spent in the Big Bend area. I have always thought that Big Bend is one of the best kept secrets of our county and this book sparked wonderful memories.

not long but full

this is story wasn't a very long story 4 hours of a fantastic story in a very specific timeline of History .... story was very very full due to the time and the length of it I enjoyed it very much it was very well written and the narrator was a very great asset to the book it was very enjoyable and very special and unique

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review

great for trip to big bend

would recommend for anyone traveling to big bend

great standalone, even better in context

Easy and Interesting Listen

This pretty much entertaining from the very beginning. Takes a chapter or two to really get rolling, but then gathers steam as each new chapter is a new tale of about the author and his family's adventures homesteading in West Texas in Big Bend Country in the very early 20th century. Even gives you some interesting incite into the good relations that existed between people on both sides of the US/Mexico border during the pre-WWI period.

Peter Lerman does a great job telling the tale. Written in the first person, he convinces you the story is his own.

Great historical read!!

I loved this book! It told of a man and his family moving to the Texas border near to a spring. He had to inhabit the land for 3 years and risked the dangers to move with his pregnant wife and small daughter in tow because of an illness he could not seem to shake. The springs touted healing powers, they were known to heal everything from gonorrhea to TB. The family was in for some exciting adventures and happy times. This book is very wholesome and refreshing for a change and the narrator was good! I would recommend this book for anyone who loves history.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Down-home tales of ol' Texas well told

* Got this free through Audio Boom in exchange for an honest review. *

An interesting memoir from a man who homesteaded in one of the most inhospitable places in the U.S. for the sake of his health.

With hardly any money, a belly full of malaria, and a little girl and pregnant wife in tow, Langford moved his family to the Big Bend area of Texas, which lies right next to Mexico with the Rio Grande delineating the border, in order to claim the land where a curative spring lies. The waters did restore his health and made it possible for the family to make the attempt to live and make improvements upon the land for the three year period it would take to call it their own. Big Bend tells the tale.

The manuscript was doctored by Old Yeller author Fred Gipson and it reads very similarly to Gipson's work. Langford himself claims to have been no great scholar, so one would guess the book to be improved a good deal by this ghost writer.

The stories are fun and interesting. Aside from a couple of historical events that touched their lives, the Langfords mostly struggled against the land and its wild inhabitants. Death is around every corner. Lighthearted moments help to strike a good balance.

Peter Lerman did a great job on the narration. His voice fits well with this time period. It's very similar to that of Grover Gardener.

If you're looking for old fashioned, down-home tales of ol' Texas and hard livin', you've come to the right place!

Very Interesting Story

Great insight into a little piece of Big Bend history. Been to the Hot Springs many times without knowing the history of it. Now, I’ll visit with a different perspective.

A different take

I received a free copy of the audiobook version of this story for an honest review.

This was a really interesting listen. I wasn't sure at first how I was going to like it, if I was going to like it, in fact. But overall, it was different given the style it was written in. It wasn't so much as a straight-forward story, where the listener/reader gets to experience what the characters are experiencing, it's more like the main character tells the story and has picked out important, memorable, or entertaining events/moments that happened in his life.

I wasn't a fan of the narrator. While he had a good voice for reading a historical story, he read this as though he were simply reading from a book. Like I could imagine him standing in front of a classroom reading this. Unfortunately, he didn't change his voice for the different characters; when he did Lovies voice at one part, I was totally thrown off because he had his regular/adult-sounding voice and she was supposed to be a little kid. I had to stop and remember that she was a kid and not older. (That's why I'm rating this a 4 star.)