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This book written by our own Dr. Isern, speaks the truth of the plains. Isern goes into great detail about this adventures and journeys across the vast, arid plains. This book is not your usual "text" book one may be required to read, memorize, and be tested upon, but a book of real life stories. Many of these stories do not stick out as anything out of the ordinary at first glance, but Isern does a wonderful job of showing us how unique our subtleties really are. Isern finds a way of looking at the how we live down to the simplest tasks or activities that speak of our culture on the great plain. Whether it is scrapping the last egg out of a 85 pound paddlefish in Montanna, packing the survival kit at first snow fall in North Dakota, or stopping to take a picture in front of the world's largest whatever in any small prairie town, the author reveals our everyday understanding as something much more than we give them credit for. The stories are us; they are who we are and how we stand out amongst the cultures to our east and west. Isern's book reminds me more of a novel then a text. In his stories he paints the picture with his voice and personality to put you in the place, almost like you are in the action. As we all know Isern is one hell of a story teller. I did expect the book to be heavily just that, but Dr. Isern was able to compile much more that just stories, he sets the stage with vivid context, setting, detail, current history, character, and just plain, small town prairie life. The laid back life style that Isern possesses can draw out history from any local he encounters whether it’s sitting down for a cup of coffee or a traditional prairie meal, Isern has the ability to learn the ways, subtle cultures, and traditions from the people he comes in contract with. Isern’s message seems to be clear that we must understand who we are and where we live, because this defines us as the culture of the North American plains. With the demand that communication and travel be faster and more easily accessed, will cultures start to bleed into one another more and more until we become a national culture or even farther a global culture? Or will the defining lines of regions and national borders always keep us unique and culturally diverse?