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The Resource The good hand : a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown, Michael Patrick F. Smith

The good hand : a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown, Michael Patrick F. Smith

Creator
Author
Summary
"A vivid window into the world of working class men and the value of hard labor, set during the Bakken fracking boom in North Dakota Shiftless and unsatisfied in his life, Michael Patrick Smith decided in his mid-thirties to seek out the hardest work he could find, to see if he could do it. He wanted to be a person, unlike his father, who knew how to work and get things done. He found himself in the oil fields of North Dakota during the Bakken fracking boom of 2013, where he spent a year as a swamper, assisting the truck drivers who hauled oil rigs from one site to another. The Good Hand is a saga of fear, danger, exhaustion, suffering, loneliness, and grit that explores the struggles and rewards of one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. In doing so, the story delves into the internal struggles of people who seem naturally drawn to hard work and hard luck--the rough-hewn, castoff, disposable men who populate boomtowns. As an oil field greenhorn, Smith finds the job is a continual battle; men are mocked and clobbered by equipment. But he comes to love the intensity and camaraderie, forming close bonds with a number of fellow workers, including Huck, an aw-shucks friendly young giant of a man who is constantly getting into trouble with the law, and "The Wildebeest," a truck driver in his fifties who initially torments Smith but later becomes instrumental in helping him to become "a good hand." Smith also examines his troubled relationship with his father--a trait that most of his coworkers seem to share--and draws fascinating parallels between his labor as an oil field hand and his previous careers in theatre and folk music. The Good Hand is ultimately a book about transformation--a classic American story about submitting to something elemental and larger than oneself. Smith discovers that the communities forged by hard work can awaken both the heart and the hands"--
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
458 pages
Isbn
9781984881519
Instance
Label
The good hand : a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown
Title
The good hand
Title remainder
a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown
Statement of responsibility
Michael Patrick F. Smith
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"A vivid window into the world of working class men and the value of hard labor, set during the Bakken fracking boom in North Dakota Shiftless and unsatisfied in his life, Michael Patrick Smith decided in his mid-thirties to seek out the hardest work he could find, to see if he could do it. He wanted to be a person, unlike his father, who knew how to work and get things done. He found himself in the oil fields of North Dakota during the Bakken fracking boom of 2013, where he spent a year as a swamper, assisting the truck drivers who hauled oil rigs from one site to another. The Good Hand is a saga of fear, danger, exhaustion, suffering, loneliness, and grit that explores the struggles and rewards of one of the most difficult jobs on the planet. In doing so, the story delves into the internal struggles of people who seem naturally drawn to hard work and hard luck--the rough-hewn, castoff, disposable men who populate boomtowns. As an oil field greenhorn, Smith finds the job is a continual battle; men are mocked and clobbered by equipment. But he comes to love the intensity and camaraderie, forming close bonds with a number of fellow workers, including Huck, an aw-shucks friendly young giant of a man who is constantly getting into trouble with the law, and "The Wildebeest," a truck driver in his fifties who initially torments Smith but later becomes instrumental in helping him to become "a good hand." Smith also examines his troubled relationship with his father--a trait that most of his coworkers seem to share--and draws fascinating parallels between his labor as an oil field hand and his previous careers in theatre and folk music. The Good Hand is ultimately a book about transformation--a classic American story about submitting to something elemental and larger than oneself. Smith discovers that the communities forged by hard work can awaken both the heart and the hands"--
Assigning source
Provided by publisher
Biography type
autobiography
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Smith, Michael Patrick F
Dewey number
  • 331.7/6223382092
  • B
Index
no index present
Literary form
non fiction
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Smith, Michael Patrick F
  • Oil industry workers
  • Hydraulic fracturing
  • Working class men
Label
The good hand : a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown, Michael Patrick F. Smith
Instantiates
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
458 pages
Isbn
9781984881519
Isbn Type
(hb)
Lccn
2020022355
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)1233180330
  • on1233180330
  • OCoLC
Label
The good hand : a memoir of work, brotherhood, and transformation in an American boomtown, Michael Patrick F. Smith
Publication
Copyright
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
24 cm
Extent
458 pages
Isbn
9781984881519
Isbn Type
(hb)
Lccn
2020022355
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
System control number
  • (OCoLC)1233180330
  • on1233180330
  • OCoLC

Subject

Genre

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    • Baker Branch LibraryBorrow it
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