A better book than Egan's "Worst Hard Times" is Donald Worster's "Dust Bowl: The Southern Plains in the 1930s." 1979 More ecology in the latter work, and less of the tedious "human interest" stories.

I loved those "tedious human interest" stories.

It gives you a feel for the daily life during a depression. Im my experience, it seems those are the stories the "regular joe/jane" can relate too.