Spillville: A Collaboration

by Patricia Hampl, Steven Sorman (Illustrator)

Book by Hampl, Patricia

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, History, Literature

112 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 1986

About the author

Patricia Hampl is an American memoirist, writer, lecturer, and educator. She teaches in the MFA program at the University of Minnesota at Minneapolis and is one of the founding members of the Loft Literary Center.

Reviews

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently spent a few days in and around Spillville, Iowa, I decided beforehand to dig up an old copy of this book which I read many years ago. It was published in 1987 by Minnesota writer and poet Patricia Hampl following a trip she made to this tiny Northeast Iowa town where Anton Dvorak and his family spent the summer of 1893.

The book isn’t just about Spillville, or Dvorak but is actually a short collection of extremely evocative essays that blend memoir with snapshots of the rural Iowa landscape and the Czech heritage that Hampl herself shares. And it was especially enjoyable to read while wandering in and around Spillville.

Hampfl captures the feel of the place and the beauty of the surrounding countryside, describing the places Dvorak himself loved so well because they reminded him of his own native country. It was here, walking along the banks of the Turkey River that he often gathered inspiration for his compositions as he listened to the birds and the sound of the wind on the water. (Contrary to what many people think, Dvorak didn’t write the New World Symphony in Spillville, but rather the String Quartet in F Major Opus 96, and Hampl includes some interesting information about how he went about it often scribbling notes on his shirt cuffs because he had run out of paper.)

Interviews with descendents of families who knew him during the time he lived among them provided Hampl with stories and anecdotes about the famous composer whose fame had yet to reach the tiny little corner of the Midwest until much later. But when I mentioned Hampl's book to a man I met who has lived in Spillville all his life, he said it was not well received by the town’s residents when it first came out. And it’s easy to see why since her tone does seem a bit condescending in places. At times she sounds a little too much like the sophisticated and well educated writer from the city out slumming in the boondocks.

But for the most part I enjoyed this little book very much, possibly because I was experiencing so much of what Hampfl was describing. (Northeast Iowa is a lovely place, and Spillville’s beautiful Bily clocks are hidden gems.) The only thing I didn’t like about the book were the engravings by artist Steven Sorman….a series of squiggles and lines that were obviously meant to imply something. But whatever they were meant to convey was completely lost on me. Other than that, this slim little volume is well worth tracking down for anyone interested in Dvorak.

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful writing + art + research about Patricia Hampl's road trip to Spillville to learn about Dvorak!!! Full of facts about Dvorak such as his daughter's alleged affair with the chief of the Kickapoo tribe, or how he used to sit on a tree stump composing. Then I went to the Spillville museum and saw that most of the information was there in the museum, so was slightly less in awe of the research--but the book is a great example of elegant weaving between first person / historical narrative. Also struck me as quintessentially Midwestern in the style and approach -- something about how sincere and unaffected and humble it was.

[Bob Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read as the author takes a roadtrip to Spillville, Iowa, mirroring a trip we have taken. Spillville has two museums in one building; The Antonin Dvorak Museum on the second floor and The Billi Clock Museum on the first floor. She recounts her travels and Dvorak’s stay in Spillville in the summer of 1893.
The random engravings scattered throughout the book didn’t work for me beyond breaking up essays.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do like it because the typography is well set and I can read it (out loud) and there are clear *doses* of language in it. It is above everything, measured out and put into halves like hard fruit. Tho there is nothing about eating in it or doing away with the rinds or setting your sights on the neatness of an aerial view of the nun changing, of the letters or decisivenesses. We will lord it over the land in Iowa. We will hone and trim and speak with the lips of a human underneath us. The lips of a human reading the words for us. The buggy. The bird-dogging.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed how Patricia Hampl used the short essay format to tell the story of Antonin Dvorak and the town of Spillville in snapshots that brought both to life. I especially like Hampl's craft in ending each essay. She leaves the reader thinking and is not afraid to leave loose ends. The way landscape is tied into life is also well done. In order to see how Steven Sorman's engravings pair with the text, I would like to see the full size exhibit at some point. The engravings are well done, but I think something gets lost in the reproduction.

[Rwildfon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This beautiful slim volume is prose work of a trip Patricia Hampl takes to Spillville, Iowa to visit the American Czech town where Antonin Dvorak spent a summer and where he was inspired to compose his Symphony No. 9 known as the New World Symphony. Hampl visits the museums and places Dvorak was known to sit and listen to the birds, she also muses on the piano lessons of her youth, and other meanderings to the theme of finding places as well as imagining places and fitting the imagination to the real.

A truly lovely read.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully written book. It was like poetry. Great engravings by Steven Sorman as well. It takes on a "ride" in Spillville Iowa the summer that Antonin Dvorak lived there with his family.

[Rey Dekker · Rating 3 out of 5]

...I don't remember...too long ago...

[Sarah Jowett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was in my dads stuff after he died so i read it. Its interesting, a different style.