‘Little and Often’ Is 2024 One Book South Dakota

 In 2024, South Dakotans will explore relationships, identity, grief, creativity, and more as they read and discuss the One Book South Dakota, Little and Often by Trent Preszler.

The memoir focuses on a single year during which Preszler, a South Dakota native living on Long Island, mourns the death of his estranged father by using inherited tools to build a wooden canoe. In the process, he comes to better understand his father – a cattle rancher, rodeo champion, and Vietnam War Bronze Star Medal recipient – and himself.

“A lot of great art comes out of a lot of great pain,” Preszler said. “The book is the story of my journey of grief and loss and understanding and reckoning with the things that were left unsaid between me and my father as I used his tools to build this boat.”

Preszler grew up on a ranch between Faith and Lemmon but has spent much of his adult life in and around New York City. The contrast between those settings, as well as his level of comfort in each one, is at the heart of the book.

“In some ways it’s a love letter to Long Island and New York, but it’s also a love letter to South Dakota,” he said. “The geography of the place and the beauty of the place influences a lot of my writing.”

Little and Often hit #1 on the Amazon Books best sellers list and was named a Best Book of 2021 by USA Today. HarperCollins describes it as “an unflinching account of bereavement and a stirring reflection on the complexities of inheritance. Between his past and his present, and between America’s heartland and its coasts, Preszler shows how one can achieve reconciliation through the healing power of creativity.”