Dakota: A Spiritual Geography

Kathleen Norris, a New Yorker, planned a brief stay on a South Dakota farm. But it lasted 20 years. Away from the city where people busily (read: neurotically) stave off emptiness, the vast space opened a door into a simple, more spiritual condition.

It's as if the space made room for the soul to stir, to grow. Standing still, watching the changing land and sky through dust storms and blizzards, Norris explored the unfathomable deep within.

"Grandly funny, too, as part of its spiritual power." (Annie Dillard)