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Shantyboat Journal
Harlan and Anna Hubbard, newly married in middle age, build the boat of their dreams and drift down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Harlan is an artist and a writer with a poet's eye for the beauty of the world. Anna is a musician and an elegant master of the arts of graceful living. For seven years (1944-1951) the Hubbards make their home on their little boat, drifting with the river, camping on the land.
Together they learn how to create and sustain a self-sufficient way of life that is infinitely fulfilling. It is a "river way of life"―free-flowing, endowed with the love of nature, the discovery of community, the rewards of good work, and the joy of creativity.
The journal is a witness to history, embracing the gentle spirit of an America now lost to modern "progress." It is one of the most significant renderings in our literature of a deeply felt sense of place.
Out of this journal grew Harlan Hubbard's enduring classic, Shantyboat , and his idyllic Shantyboat on the Bayous . His later Payne Hollow is a Thoreauvian testament to the values embodied in the homesteading life the Hubbards lived for four decades after they completed their epic river journey. Their life together has been praised by Wendell Berry as "one of the finest accomplishments of our time." The Shantyboat Journal reveals its creation.
Together they learn how to create and sustain a self-sufficient way of life that is infinitely fulfilling. It is a "river way of life"―free-flowing, endowed with the love of nature, the discovery of community, the rewards of good work, and the joy of creativity.
The journal is a witness to history, embracing the gentle spirit of an America now lost to modern "progress." It is one of the most significant renderings in our literature of a deeply felt sense of place.
Out of this journal grew Harlan Hubbard's enduring classic, Shantyboat , and his idyllic Shantyboat on the Bayous . His later Payne Hollow is a Thoreauvian testament to the values embodied in the homesteading life the Hubbards lived for four decades after they completed their epic river journey. Their life together has been praised by Wendell Berry as "one of the finest accomplishments of our time." The Shantyboat Journal reveals its creation.
394 pages, Hardcover
First published June 7, 1994
8 people are currently reading
240 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 15, 2015
This classic book is one every river person should read. Harlan and his wife Anna take seven years aboard a shantyboat that they built themselves to go off the grid and explore the land and the waters of the Ohio and the Mississippi River. They are not in a hurry - every spring they pull in, plant a garden, settle in to a new community of people, fish, pick berries and show us a wonderful life that is beautiful in both the scenery and the way of living.
He is an artist and both are musicians. They find pleasure in meeting people discovering new locations, gathering wild vegetables, eating from the land and interacting with drifters and fishermen as they go.
Moving with the current and no motor they are truly adrift and vulnerable to the whims of the great rivers.
I just wish I could have met them and gone on board!
He is an artist and both are musicians. They find pleasure in meeting people discovering new locations, gathering wild vegetables, eating from the land and interacting with drifters and fishermen as they go.
Moving with the current and no motor they are truly adrift and vulnerable to the whims of the great rivers.
I just wish I could have met them and gone on board!
April 1, 2020
Visual and an education I never knew I needed. Beautifully written and edited. Thank you for the gift of a new interest in American literature (I have always favored Russian and British literature and authors). What kindness shown by HH and wife Annie to all the wise and some simple souls they met along their drifting journey. Dr. AKS
November 4, 2019
Very interesting read about things we will never see again, such as steamboats, steam trains, species that are now extinct or going extinct, etc.
March 9, 2022
After reading the novel Before We Were Yours I was interested in the world of Shantyboat living. I watched some videos about Harlan Hubbard and decided to buy a copy of his Shantyboat Journal.
I enjoyed reading this very much but found it very understandably so, repetitive and a bit impersonal.
Being a journal I expected it to be somewhat repetitive as day to day life is but also a bit more descriptive, from the heart and colorful, especially coming from an educated artist, musician living his dream life. I was delighted when Harlan gave us a tiny glimpse through the drawn curtain into his life, viewing through his eyes, his feelings for Anna, the river, the people, their dogs, the wildlife but then he would quickly close the curtain as though he didn'twanttoshow but an impersonal and quick glance.
In the end he tells of a visitor to his shantyboat, when they were away from it, peering through the window of their home and finding it quite bare. The visitor assumed they had moved out. I understand neat and clean, things put away, especially on a boat but not so much the place looks unlived in and so it seemed at times in his journaling.
So I read page after page of weather reports, laundry day, tying up and untying, the river rose, then it fell, putting out spars, bringing them in, laying a plank to walk on, etc. He did say how their view was constantly changing just by turning the boat and said they saw the lightning bugs and heard the frogs and birds but I felt I was eagerly waiting for him to share in his real life. For example Skippers puppies being born, at least 8 litters. But then what happened to them? Did they find them homes, give them away or abandon them?
How did Anna cook their poke, who cleaned the fish, were they ever homesick or missing family? I would have liked to know more about their reading and if Harlan and Anna had differences in what they enjoyed to read, to play, etc. A recipe or two would have been delightful. A glimpse into who they sent their Christmas cards and letters to. Did their families ask to see them?
There were frequent mentions of the steamboats and other houseboats they passed or passed by them and he included the steamboat names much of this is America's history so these boats could be looked up for further reading if one wanted to study steamboats as well. Janice Holt Giles wrote a beautiful novel about a steamboat captain, pre- Civil War titled Run Me a River.
I didn't feel this journal was a very personal account but it let'sus see the very private, somewhat reclusive Harlan as he wrote his journal aware at almost every moment of being watched. He probably wasn't comfortable being seen or known below the surface. And of course that perhaps is the point that Harlan was a very private, introvert of a man who enjoyed a gypsy life style and writing and yet he did want to share his journey.
If you are a patient, persevering reader, as I am, I think you will enjoy this account as much as I did and perhaps long to know more of how Harlan or Anba lived. It made me want to read more about their life at Payne Hollow and I plan to buy the book on that period of their life.
This book is still interesting, especially if you are curious about river life on a boat. It does indeed belong in my personal library of how different people lived their life. It fits in nicely among Truman of St. Helens, Woodswoman, Hillbilly Elegy, Life of a Slave Girl. Grandma Gatewood's Walk and Helen Keller's Story of My Life, Angela's Ashes, Bonhoeffer and John Adams.
Perhaps someone I love will want to read this one day and also treasure these books as I do.
I enjoyed reading this very much but found it very understandably so, repetitive and a bit impersonal.
Being a journal I expected it to be somewhat repetitive as day to day life is but also a bit more descriptive, from the heart and colorful, especially coming from an educated artist, musician living his dream life. I was delighted when Harlan gave us a tiny glimpse through the drawn curtain into his life, viewing through his eyes, his feelings for Anna, the river, the people, their dogs, the wildlife but then he would quickly close the curtain as though he didn'twanttoshow but an impersonal and quick glance.
In the end he tells of a visitor to his shantyboat, when they were away from it, peering through the window of their home and finding it quite bare. The visitor assumed they had moved out. I understand neat and clean, things put away, especially on a boat but not so much the place looks unlived in and so it seemed at times in his journaling.
So I read page after page of weather reports, laundry day, tying up and untying, the river rose, then it fell, putting out spars, bringing them in, laying a plank to walk on, etc. He did say how their view was constantly changing just by turning the boat and said they saw the lightning bugs and heard the frogs and birds but I felt I was eagerly waiting for him to share in his real life. For example Skippers puppies being born, at least 8 litters. But then what happened to them? Did they find them homes, give them away or abandon them?
How did Anna cook their poke, who cleaned the fish, were they ever homesick or missing family? I would have liked to know more about their reading and if Harlan and Anna had differences in what they enjoyed to read, to play, etc. A recipe or two would have been delightful. A glimpse into who they sent their Christmas cards and letters to. Did their families ask to see them?
There were frequent mentions of the steamboats and other houseboats they passed or passed by them and he included the steamboat names much of this is America's history so these boats could be looked up for further reading if one wanted to study steamboats as well. Janice Holt Giles wrote a beautiful novel about a steamboat captain, pre- Civil War titled Run Me a River.
I didn't feel this journal was a very personal account but it let'sus see the very private, somewhat reclusive Harlan as he wrote his journal aware at almost every moment of being watched. He probably wasn't comfortable being seen or known below the surface. And of course that perhaps is the point that Harlan was a very private, introvert of a man who enjoyed a gypsy life style and writing and yet he did want to share his journey.
If you are a patient, persevering reader, as I am, I think you will enjoy this account as much as I did and perhaps long to know more of how Harlan or Anba lived. It made me want to read more about their life at Payne Hollow and I plan to buy the book on that period of their life.
This book is still interesting, especially if you are curious about river life on a boat. It does indeed belong in my personal library of how different people lived their life. It fits in nicely among Truman of St. Helens, Woodswoman, Hillbilly Elegy, Life of a Slave Girl. Grandma Gatewood's Walk and Helen Keller's Story of My Life, Angela's Ashes, Bonhoeffer and John Adams.
Perhaps someone I love will want to read this one day and also treasure these books as I do.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2024
This book tends to just go over chores, errands, and simple everyday things (albeit on a boat on a river). It’s not like we’re getting a wild adventure or deep romance - we barely get to know anything about his wife, except that she is a good cook and plays the cello. And yet, somehow, Hubbard is able to convey the subtext of adventure and intimacy in this simple, straightforward narrative. His descriptions of nature are sometimes a bit too basic, but often have a plain beauty to them that appeals. Somehow, the whole book seems like it should be dull, but it was actually rather transporting.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews