The Battle of Pollocks Crossing

Blurb

The Battle of Pollocks Crossing is the sixth novel by J.L. Carr, published in 1985. The novel was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1985 and followed a nomination in 1980 for A Month in the Country, his preceding novel.
The novel describes a year spent by a young English exchange teacher named George Gidner in the fictional town of Pallisades on the Great Plains of South Dakota. Like many of Carr's novels it is grounded in personal experience: Carr worked for a year as an exchange teacher in Huron, South Dakota in 1938 - 39 and returned again to teach in 1956 - 57. Carr also reported that it was his first novel, but the book failed initially to find a publisher. When it had been accepted by Viking Penguin, Carr took it back and spent two days rewriting it. The early titles of the novel were apparently Oh, My America, a quotation from John Donne and To the West, To the West, an immigrant song, although Carr may not have been entirely serious.