A Thousand Acres Study Guide & Plot Synopsis

A Thousand Acres Plot Summary

Preview of A Thousand Acres Summary:

The novel, published in 1991, begins with a pig roast thrown by Harold Clark to honor his returning son Jess. Not to be outdone—and annoyed that he doesn't know whether Harold paid cash for his shiny new red tractor—prosperous Iowa farmer Larry Cook announces his plan to divide his 1000-acres between his daughters at the pig roast. Larry cuts his youngest daughter out of the deal, because she sounds insufficiently enthusiastic. It is not long, however, before he begins behaving erratically—buying furniture, which he leaves outside to be ruined in the rain and, although sustaining only minor injuries, rolling his pickup while intoxicated. He next curses his two older daughters, Ginny and Rose and staggers down the road in the middle of a tornado alert.

Soon after, with the help of the initially excluded daughter Caroline, Harold sues to get the farm back under an "abuse and neglect" clause, which...
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