When you read this book, you will hear, in your mind’s ear, a lucid, authentic, distinctive voice. It is the around-the-campfire voice of a sanctioned old-timer. You are going to be captivated by the voice’s rhythm, and awed by its precision, and you will be, without a doubt, amused by its wit and humor. Dick Courteau is going to share anecdotes, musings, and reflections about leading the country life and about your country neighbors’ adeptness, the craft of their language, their humility, and their deep respect for others. You will listen, to temp you but with a few vignettes, to the psychological insights of horse country auctioneers, and the wisdom and mercy of one-armed country judges. You are going to encounter first-person accounts of the scrappiness of rodeo saddle bronc riders, and of family Homeric cross-country travels in a covered wagon amidst the vertigo of automobiles. You may even get practical advice along the way in case you are in dire need of acquiring teamster skills. Horses will fall in love in this book, but no, cows will not be jumping over the moon. Cows will leap out of small unbarred barn windows. And so they should.

Even if you are an unredeemable city slicker who cannot tell apart a breeching ring from an engagement one, when you hear Dick Courteau’s voice you will agree that Profoundly Country cannot help but be, above all, profoundly human.