{"product_id":"the-canyons-paperback","title":"The Canyons - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eBen Kostival\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Canyons\u003c\/em\u003e combines the naturalism of Frank Norris' \u003cem\u003eMcTeague\u003c\/em\u003e with the modernist techniques of Steinbeck's \u003cem\u003eThe Grapes of Wrath\u003c\/em\u003e, yielding a work of historical noir that Howard Zinn called \"an ingenious blending of fact and fiction.\" Based on the Colorado coalfield war of 1913-14, \u003cem\u003eThe Canyons\u003c\/em\u003e borrows the zeitgeist of a century ago to allegorize contemporary conditions of national, populist ferment.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Canyons\u003c\/em\u003e unfolds through the perspective of Harlan Baxter, a functionary tasked by his New York-based company to investigate deteriorating conditions at a Colorado coal mine. While Baxter struggles to orient himself in the pressurized coalfields, a mine shaft explodes, killing several miners and precipitating a strike. The company imposes harsh countermeasures which Baxter must oversee, but when provocation leads to murder, Baxter allies himself with the miners to fight alongside them in the most violent labor insurrection in American history.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Canyons\u003c\/em\u003e reintroduces the coalfield war to new generations. The passion, drama, and context of the strike bear directly on American inequality, racial strife, and the suppression of labor. Books like George McGovern and Leon Guttridge's \u003cem\u003eThe Great Coalfield War \u003c\/em\u003eand Scott Martelle's \u003cem\u003eBlood Passion \u003c\/em\u003ehave examined the strike in non-fiction, and David Mason's \u003cem\u003eLudlow\u003c\/em\u003e covers it in epic-poem form, but the Coalfield War has never before received proper treatment in a novel. With fully rounded characters, a fast-paced plot, and a compelling moral force, \u003cem\u003eThe Canyons\u003c\/em\u003e will appeal alike to scholars, students, and general readers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 258\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.58 x 8 x 5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 01, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42128637821063,"sku":"9780998414621","price":15.12,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0601\/2623\/2711\/files\/a7b77806076709d7d3d6715f7f5abf6e.webp?v=1732597071","url":"https:\/\/booksby.splitshops.com\/products\/the-canyons-paperback","provider":"Books by splitShops","version":"1.0","type":"link"}