
Headlights on the Prairie
Essays on Home
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $19.50
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Robert Rebein
-
By:
-
Robert Rebein
About this listen
At the long-term care facility where Robert Rebein's father lands after a horrific car crash, a shadow box hangs next to each room, its contents suggesting something of the occupant's life. In Headlights on the Prairie, Rebein has created a literary shadow box of sorts, a book in which moments of singular grace and grit encapsulate a life and a world.
In the tradition of memoirs such as Tobias Wolff's This Boy's Life and Ivan Doig's This House of Sky, these essays bring a storyteller's gifts to life's dramas, large and small. Following his award-winning turn on his hometown of Dodge City, Rebein takes us back to the high plains world where his family has farmed and ranched since the 1920s. It is a world populated by feedlot cowboys, stock-car drivers, and farm kids dreaming of basketball glory. Here too we find the darker tales of damaged young men returning from war, long-haul truckers addicted to crystal meth, and the sadly heroic residents of a small-town nursing home grandiloquently named Manor of the Plains.
Whether contemplating a fiery crash at a race track, coming to terms with an aging parent, or navigating the last days of a beloved family dog, Rebein offers a subtle, unsparing, often moving look at the moments that go into making a writer and a man. Seen in sharp detail, and recalled from a distance, his is a story of how a man can leave his home on the prairie - and yet never really get out of Dodge.
©2017 Robert Rebein/University Press of Kansas (P)2017 Robert RebeinListeners also enjoyed...
-
The Last Cowboys
- By: John Branch
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times reporter and best-selling author John Branch takes listeners to the magnificent red soil and rocky arroyos of southern Utah, where the Wright family of Smith Mesa have for generations raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders - some call them the most successful rodeo family in history. Filled with vivid scenes of cattle ranching and the high drama of rodeo, The Last Cowboys follows three generations of Wrights through the seasons as they are battered by drought, the falling price of beef, and rodeo's ever-present risks of serious injury.
-
-
Well written, could have been a great performance
- By old_man_shakey on 05-18-18
By: John Branch
-
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
- Stories
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Dylan Baker, Brooke Bloom, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A master storyteller at his best - the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story. Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant fan. "I made them especially for you," says King. "Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth."
-
-
HE'S A CUP OF COFFEE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-10-15
By: Stephen King
-
The Cold Dish
- A Walt Longmire Mystery
- By: Craig Johnson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Introducing Wyoming's Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Dry Bones, the first in the Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, full of memorable characters.
-
-
Not Your Ordinary Western Novel (Series)
- By Dataman on 09-12-12
By: Craig Johnson
-
Half Broke Horses
- A True-Life Novel
- By: Jeannette Walls
- Narrated by: Jeannette Walls
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" ( Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.
-
-
A BETTER BOOK THAN "THE GLASS CASTLE"
- By Kathryn on 01-10-10
By: Jeannette Walls
-
Blue Heaven
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A twelve-year-old girl and her younger brother are on the run in the Idaho woods, pursued by four men they have just watched commit murder—four men who know exactly who William and Annie are. And where their mother lives. Retired policemen from Los Angeles, the killers easily persuade the local sheriff to let them lead the search for the missing children. Now there's nowhere left for William and Annie to hide…and no one they can trust. Until they meet Jess Rawlins.
-
-
Interesting Mystery
- By Holly Helscher on 04-08-09
By: C. J. Box
-
The Essay
- A Novel
- By: Robin Yocum
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jimmy Lee Hickam grew up along Red Dog Road, a dead-end strip of gravel and mud buried deep in the bowels of Appalachian Ohio. It is the poorest road, in the poorest county, in the poorest region of the state. To make things worse, the name Hickam is synonymous with trouble. Jimmy Lee hails from a heathen mix of thieves, moonshiners, drunkards, and general anti-socials that for decades have clung to both the hardscrabble hills and the iron bars of every jail cell in the region. This life, Jimmy Lee believes, is his destiny, someday working with his drunkard father at the sawmill, or sitting next to his arsonist brother in the penitentiary.
-
-
Absolute Wonder of a Story<br /><br /><br /><br />
- By Selene Rackley on 04-10-16
By: Robin Yocum
-
The Last Cowboys
- By: John Branch
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
New York Times reporter and best-selling author John Branch takes listeners to the magnificent red soil and rocky arroyos of southern Utah, where the Wright family of Smith Mesa have for generations raised cattle and world-champion saddle-bronc riders - some call them the most successful rodeo family in history. Filled with vivid scenes of cattle ranching and the high drama of rodeo, The Last Cowboys follows three generations of Wrights through the seasons as they are battered by drought, the falling price of beef, and rodeo's ever-present risks of serious injury.
-
-
Well written, could have been a great performance
- By old_man_shakey on 05-18-18
By: John Branch
-
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
- Stories
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Dylan Baker, Brooke Bloom, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A master storyteller at his best - the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story. Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant fan. "I made them especially for you," says King. "Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth."
-
-
HE'S A CUP OF COFFEE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-10-15
By: Stephen King
-
The Cold Dish
- A Walt Longmire Mystery
- By: Craig Johnson
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Introducing Wyoming's Sheriff Walt Longmire in this riveting novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Dry Bones, the first in the Longmire series, the basis for the hit Netflix original series Longmire. Johnson draws on his deep attachment to the American West to produce a literary mystery of stunning authenticity, full of memorable characters.
-
-
Not Your Ordinary Western Novel (Series)
- By Dataman on 09-12-12
By: Craig Johnson
-
Half Broke Horses
- A True-Life Novel
- By: Jeannette Walls
- Narrated by: Jeannette Walls
- Length: 7 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jeannette Walls's memoir The Glass Castle was "nothing short of spectacular" ( Entertainment Weekly). Now, in Half Broke Horses, she brings us the story of her grandmother, told in a first-person voice that is authentic, irresistible, and triumphant.
-
-
A BETTER BOOK THAN "THE GLASS CASTLE"
- By Kathryn on 01-10-10
By: Jeannette Walls
-
Blue Heaven
- By: C. J. Box
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A twelve-year-old girl and her younger brother are on the run in the Idaho woods, pursued by four men they have just watched commit murder—four men who know exactly who William and Annie are. And where their mother lives. Retired policemen from Los Angeles, the killers easily persuade the local sheriff to let them lead the search for the missing children. Now there's nowhere left for William and Annie to hide…and no one they can trust. Until they meet Jess Rawlins.
-
-
Interesting Mystery
- By Holly Helscher on 04-08-09
By: C. J. Box
-
The Essay
- A Novel
- By: Robin Yocum
- Narrated by: Fleet Cooper
- Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Jimmy Lee Hickam grew up along Red Dog Road, a dead-end strip of gravel and mud buried deep in the bowels of Appalachian Ohio. It is the poorest road, in the poorest county, in the poorest region of the state. To make things worse, the name Hickam is synonymous with trouble. Jimmy Lee hails from a heathen mix of thieves, moonshiners, drunkards, and general anti-socials that for decades have clung to both the hardscrabble hills and the iron bars of every jail cell in the region. This life, Jimmy Lee believes, is his destiny, someday working with his drunkard father at the sawmill, or sitting next to his arsonist brother in the penitentiary.
-
-
Absolute Wonder of a Story<br /><br /><br /><br />
- By Selene Rackley on 04-10-16
By: Robin Yocum
-
King of the Mild Frontier
- An Ill-Advised Autobiography
- By: Chris Crutcher
- Narrated by: Chris Crutcher
- Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Once you have read about Chris Crutcher's life as a dateless, broken-toothed, scabbed-over, God-fearing dweeb, and once you have contemplated his ascension to the buckskin-upholstered throne of the King of the Mild Frontier, you will close this book, close your eyes and hold it to your chest, and say, "I, too, can be an author." Hell, anyone can.
-
-
Great story writing.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-21-17
By: Chris Crutcher
-
Look Me in the Eye
- My Life with Asperger's
- By: John Elder Robison
- Narrated by: Mark Deakins
- Length: 9 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ever since he was small, John Robison had longed to connect with other people, but by the time he was a teenager, his odd habits, an inclination to blurt out non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes, had earned him the label "social deviant". No guidance came from his mother or his father. It was no wonder he gravitated to machines, which could, at least, be counted on.
-
-
Interesting autobiography; not autism-informative
- By Steener on 03-13-15
-
Running Man
- A Memoir
- By: Charlie Engle
- Narrated by: Charlie Engle
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a decade-long addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol, Charlie Engle hit bottom with a near-fatal six-day binge that ended in a hail of bullets. As Engle got sober, he turned to running, which became his lifeline, his pastime, and his salvation. He began with marathons, and when marathons weren't far enough he began to take on ultramarathons, races that went for 35, 50, and sometimes hundreds of miles, traveling to some of the most unforgiving places on earth to race.
-
-
Fantastic, But One Tiiiiny Thing--
- By Gillian on 11-09-16
By: Charlie Engle
-
The Reluctant Farmer of Whimsey Hill
- By: Bradford Smith, Lynn Raven, Nancy Raven Smith
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The award-winning, humorous true story of an animal-phobic, city robotics engineer who learns too late that his new bride's dream is to have a farm where she can rescue ex-racehorses. When the newlyweds take a Meyers-Briggs Personality Test for fun, they discover their marriage is doomed. There is only one problem: they took the test after the wedding.
-
-
Heartwarming. Wonderfully told story.
- By B O'Reilley on 09-07-20
By: Bradford Smith, and others
-
Catching the Sky
- By: Colten Moore, Keith O'Brien
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dust and prairie were abundant on the Texas Panhandle, the land that gave birth to generations of Moores. But instead of working the land or the cattle that fed upon it, the Moore brothers, Colton and Caleb, heeded another call. Their dreams, paired with hard work and family sacrifice, eventually became reality. The Moore brothers, with their boundary-exploding athleticism, innovation, and appetite for risk, became stars on the burgeoning freestyle ATV and snowmobile circuits.
-
-
Pulled at my heartstrings
- By Gloria on 01-25-16
By: Colten Moore, and others
-
Hidden America
- From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work
- By: Jeanne Marie Laskas
- Narrated by: Jamie Heinlein
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
These stories are about the people who make our lives run every day—and yet we barely think of them. Laskas spent weeks in an Ohio coal mine and on an Alaskan oil rig; in a Maine migrant labor camp, a Texas beef ranch, the air traffic control tower at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, a California landfill, an Arizona gun shop, the cab of a long-haul truck in Iowa, and the stadium of the Cincinnati Ben-Gals cheerleaders. All are part of hidden America, and you will be amazed by what Laskas tells you about them.
-
-
Love it... Love her... Check out everything!!!
- By Kari Homan Shannon on 04-30-13
-
Falling from Horses
- By: Molly Gloss
- Narrated by: David Aaron Baker
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
>In 1938, 19-year-old cowboy Bud Frazer sets his sights on becoming a stunt rider in the movies. Fantasizing about rubbing shoulders with the great screen cowboys of his youth, he leaves his home in Echol Creek, Oregon, and heads for Hollywood. On the long bus ride south, Bud meets a young woman who also harbors dreams of making it in the movies, though not as a starlet but as a writer, a real writer.
-
-
Good
- By MJ Strub on 10-26-23
By: Molly Gloss
-
Lullaby Road
- By: James Anderson
- Narrated by: Graham Winton
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ben Jones, protagonist of the glowingly reviewed Never-Open Desert Diner, returns in a devastatingly powerful literary crime novel about parenthood, loss, and the desert in winter. Winter has come to Highway 117, a remote road through the Utah desert trafficked only by oddballs, fugitives, and those looking to escape the world.
-
-
It grew on me
- By Shirley Y. Thomas on 09-21-21
By: James Anderson
-
The Buffalo Soldier
- By: Chris Bohjalian
- Narrated by: Alison Fraser
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best selling and critically acclaimed author of Trans-Sister Radio comes a hauntingly beautiful story of the ties that bind families - and the strains that pull them apart. "Bohjalian writes honestly and often movingly," says Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal calls it "tender...[written] with poetic skill."
-
-
Touching, and Sincere
- By A.W. Nadine on 05-27-03
By: Chris Bohjalian
-
Two If by Sea
- By: Jacquelyn Mitchard
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child's life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank's own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up.
-
-
What a waste! Keep your credit!!!!
- By Allen Anthony on 03-18-16
-
The Kindness of Strangers
- Penniless Across America
- By: Mike McIntyre
- Narrated by: Chris Brinkley
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Stuck in a job he no longer found fulfilling, journalist Mike McIntyre felt his life was quickly passing him by. So one day he hit the road to trek from one end of the country to the other with little more than the clothes on his back and without a single penny in his pocket. Through his travels, he found varying degrees of kindness in strangers from all walks of life - and discovered more about people and values and life on the road in America than he'd ever thought possible.
-
-
great
- By Chris on 12-10-14
By: Mike McIntyre
-
The Horse Whisperer
- By: Nicholas Evans
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 12 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a snow-covered morning in upstate New York, a girl out riding her horse is hit by a 40-ton truck. Though horribly injured, both 13-year-old Grace and her horse Pilgrim survive. Annie, Grace's mother, refuses to have Pilgrim destroyed and hears about a man in Montana, a 'whisperer' who is said to have the gift of healing troubled horses. They set off across the continent to find him and there, under the massive Montana sky, all their lives are changed forever.
-
-
A qualified review...
- By Douglas on 10-10-09
By: Nicholas Evans