In connection with the recently announced impending publication of Woody Guthrie’s 1947 novel House of Earth, the manuscript of which is housed in Special Collections here, Marc Carlson, Librarian of Special Collections and University Archives was interviewed this morning on KWGS radio program Studio Tulsa. A copy of this broadcast will be available at http://kwgs.org/programs/studiotulsa-895-1.
House of Earth is a semi-autoboiographical novel, describing the lives of a young couple attempting to survive the Dust Bowl in an adobe house. Guthrie finished the novel in 1947, and while it was never published, he did try to get it made into a film by Irving Lerner. It is probable that the University acquired the text from Lerner’s estate sometime between 1976, when the filmmaker died, and 1984 when a copy of the manuscript was made for Harold Leventhal, Guthrie’s agent and manager. This copy is likely what formed the basis of the upcoming publication.
Other links regarding the publication of this novel may be found at: