Note: Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing, and Dean Butler for the advanced reader copy of the book. This review will also be posted on NetGalley. What follows is my unbiased review of the book.

I grew up a huge fan of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s “Little House” book series. I was a more tepid fan of the television series, as there was little that connected it to the actual books, other than the name of the characters. I still enjoyed it to a certain degree and have read the memoirs of several of the series’ stars.

Dean Butler joined the cast about midway through its run as Almanzo Wilder. In real life, Laura was 15 when she first began seeing the man she would marry who was ten years her senior. This presented a bit of a problem, even in the 1970s for Butler and the cast of Little House. What helped was Butler’s good nature and a bit of naivete that bled through to the role of Almanzo.

It’s hard to believe that this man grew up teased and bullied in school, but he did. He was not the sports type, and ended up a part of the AV squad and announcing his high school’s basketball games. This gave him a bit of relief from the teasing. It also connected him to the world of show business, and he soon wanted to try his hand at acting.

Butler recounts his navigation of show business with little experience compared to many others. His break came when he was cast opposite Stephanie Zimbalist in Forever, an adaptation of a Judy Blume novel. Again, it was his naivete that bled through and made him a perfect fit for the role.

After being cast as Almanzo, Butler was a bit lost on the show. Michael Landon was the showrunner and demanded a lot, without being questioned. Dean still is grateful for the experience and has embraced all that portraying Almanzo came with. He’s been a regular at many of the cast reunions and has crafted several documentaries about the real lives of Almanzo Wilder and Laura Ingalls Wilder.

The book was a bit bland. If you’re expecting a juice tell-all you won’t get that here. From reading this, I doubt that’s a part of Butler’s nature. He writes extensively about how he was raised with a particular set of values and good manners. This leads to few juicy moments, and those are usually when he is owning his missteps in life. I did not know he was once engaged to Mary Hart, which did prove interesting.

I enjoyed Prairie Man for what it was, but if you’re looking for any dishing or dirt you won’t find it here. The book was interesting, but not as much fun as, say Alison Arngrim’s memoir. I think that is the best of all of the memoirs I’ve read by the cast of the television series. Still, Butler’s is good and he’s candid while at the same time apologetic that his impressions of people are not the same held by others (this is particularly the case with Michael Landon). It’s worth a read if you were a fan of the series growing up.