Book Description

"April 3, 1976. Completed Staggerford this morning at 9:15. . . . The most satisfying thing I've done since playing high school football."

In the spring of 1975, an unknown Minnesota teacher named Jon Hassler decided to take a sabbatical and fulfill his lifelong dream of writing a novel. A year later, Hassler typed the final page of Staggerford--a book that has won a cherished place as a classic novel of small-town life in America. Now, many years and many novels later, Hassler shares the private story of Staggerford's creation as recorded in the vividly revealing journals he kept while writing the book.

Hassler's My Staggerford Journal is at once the narrative of a work of art struggling to be born and the portrait of a creative mind in the throes of a life-altering breakthrough. Day by day, we peer over Hassler's shoulder as he breathes life into his creation--realizing with a sudden flash of insight that his hero Miles Pruitt should not have a wife, shaping and reshaping the character of the Bonewoman, heeding the good "advice" of the spirited Miss Agatha McGee, stumbling on the perfect title. Here, too, is the moving account of the novelist's inner doubts and comic missteps, his lonely triumphs and jarring sacrifices.

My Staggerford Journal affords a rare glimpse into the imagination of one of the best-loved masters of contemporary American fiction. Jon Hassler's many fans, as well as all readers interested in seeing the creative process at work, will be spellbound by this wonderful book.
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Reviews (2)

Novice Writers' How-to Book
'Loved reading this book; 100-pages that are worthy of gifting to others who love to read and write. With great clarity, Hassler expresses his joy as well as his struggle in capturing thoughts for the reader's enjoyment. And he sprinkles the copy with his down home, chuckle-invoking humor. His Staggerford Journal is as enjoyable as Staggerford itself. Thank you for yet another gift, Jon Hassler!

For Staggerford fans only
"What is any artist but the dregs of his work?" the author William Gaddis said, and one wishes Jon Hassler had remembered that before publishing "My Staggerford Journal," the tearings from his diary he kept in 1975 when he took a sabbatical from his English professorship to write his first novel. While the book is only 100 pages long, there is very little that is of interest to anyone but fans of his work.

Those interested in the artistic process will find little here of interest. Hassler recounts the decisions underlying the writing of "Staggerford" in the fashion of a carpenter building a chair ("Coach Gibbon will talk about sports. Stella about the press box and her dentist. Imogene? Knowledge.").

The best parts of the book are things that have nothing to do with writing. He visits Emily Dickenson's home in New England, and spends three weeks in Great Britain and Ireland. He recounts a vacuous committee meeting at the community college where he taught. After a week writing alone, he goes out into the Minnesota snow seeking any kind of social connection. When he book is accepted by Atheneum, he worries that he doesn't know how to pronounce the name. But overall, the best part of Hassler is found in his novels. ... Read more

Book Description

Louise de Koven Bowen grew up in a Chicago caught between frontier and urbanity--a young city struggling to wipe the mud from its boots. Born into privilege and comfort, she demonstrated from an early age an extraordinary sense of social responsibility and alertness to how she could improve the circumstances of those around her. Smart, savvy, and bracingly candid, Growing Up with a City offers a rare portrait of Chicago and its growing pains from a woman's perspective.

"When I took a walk," Bowen says, "I liked to go into the poorer parts of the town and see what was going on, especially in my own ward." An early and longtime supporter of Jane Addams and Hull-House, Bowen was active in a multitude of reform organizations, describing herself as a third-class train passenger who goes out every day and pushes the train uphill because it cannot make the grade on its own. She was instrumental in creating a separate juvenile court and Chicago's Juvenile Protection Association, and she helped found the Woman's City Club, an organization that brought women together in one central organization to work for the welfare of the city. She was serving as president of the Chicago Equal Suffrage Association when the Illinois legislature gave women of the state the vote in local and federal elections. She even flirted with the idea of running for mayor in 1923.

More than a record of her accomplishments, Bowen's memoir is a disarmingly witty narrative of an enthusiastic, generous, and perpetually optimistic benefactor--with herself often the target of her own wry humor. Invigorating and endearing, her story lets us see how women made a difference in Chicago. This reissue features a substantial introduction by historian Maureen Flanagan. ... Read more

Amazon.com

This sensitive, restrained memoir searches for answers to the most painful of questions: Why would a bright, athletic, seemingly well-adjusted boy like Kathleen Finneran's 15-year-old brother want to take his own life? Sean Finneran's 1971 suicide is the pivotal crisis in The Tender Land, but not the only one. References to a family strain of depressive mental illness sound a warning note; Finneran's maternal grandfather probably killed himself, and her mother is subject to severe bouts of depression that may also have afflicted Sean, whose suicide note reveals a self-hatred that the love of his parents and siblings could not assuage. The author frankly relates her own problems with weight, an inexplicable but irresistible urge to shoplift, and uncertain sexual orientation. But Finneran's precise prose, rich in evocative physical details, convincingly limns an ordinary, generally happy Midwestern family: five children spread over 16 years; a devout, nature- and animal-loving mother; a father who communicated best without words, rooted in "his faith in materials men make of the earth." There are no villains and no answers in this heartbreaking book, which respects the essential mystery of a shattering tragedy and closes with an affirmative message to Sean: "I want to call out your name and tell you, across the tender land, that we have gone on living." --Wendy Smith ... Read more

Reviews (15)

wonderful
I enjoyed this book. I thought it was beautifully written. This is one of my favorite books I have ever read. While it was sad it also had humor and love. It appears Shawn has never been forgotten by his loving family. I would highly recommend this wonderful read to all!!!

Truly unforgettable
This memoir is one that I will never forget - it affected me in the way that The Lovely Bones did - it's left me with a profound feeling of heartbreak and poignancy.

Kathleen Finneran is probably one of the bravest of authors as she lays bare many personal feelings and experiences of her own, along with the family tragedy that the Finnerans lived through when they lost 15-year-old Sean to suicide.

She portrays her family, separately and wholly, as tight-knit, strong, extremely loving, but tragically touched by depression and suicide.

I highly recommend this beautifully written, heartrending, precious memoir. It is one-of-a-kind.

she touched a nerve
Wow, I bought this book--knowing it was about the author's brothers suicide, but it is so much more! The family members ring true to my family members--I am not quite finished reading it yet..and I know there are times when I am reading it I need to put it down for a while and think about what the author has written. This truly is a book that allows me to think about myself, my past and into the years to come. It brings tears of happiness, pain and renewal.

Lovingly Revealing
Kathleen Finneran's debut novel, "The Tender Land" is unforgettable in its restraint and quiet beauty. Finneran's words lovingly reveal her family's tragic history and her own painful coming of age. She deals with her 15-year-old brother Sean's suicide by sharing this memoir with others as a love letter to him.

"I realized I needed to write about my brother's death in a way that was more intentional than tangential. I started out in the form I was comfortable with, writing an autographical essay that was submerged in more objective prose, in this case an essay that explored my mother's real belief that my brother was an angel by comparing his qualities to those angels that exist in literature - Thomas Aquinas on angels, Dante Milton," explained Finneran. "The end result was something that seemed very artificial, and I felt my brother deserved better from me. So I just started writing what I wanted to remember about him, free from any form or genre constraints; in doing that, in taking the simplest and mot direct approach, I learned to write about his death, I had to write about his life, and to write about his life, I had to write about my whole family."

Finneran was born in 1957 into an Irish Catholic family. She and her four siblings, an older brother and sister, Michael and Mary, and a younger brother and sister, Sean and Kelly, had a comfortable life in suburban St. Louis. Depression and suicide ran in the family. Kathleen suffered from depression and her sister, Kelly, tried to overdose at age 28.

Finneran's first sexual experience coincided with the night Sean died, making sex and death forever inextricable for her. She slept with a man. "How could I tell Mary what that weekend was for me, making love to a woman the next."

She later found comfort with a woman lover, Ellis, who was her best friend, despite her mother's cautious warning about being "different." "'There's something about Ellis,' Sean had said once. 'When you are with her, you always feel safe.' And it was true. She lived simply, straightforwardly, as if life required nothing more than mastering a series of survival skills. And she had mastered them. I marveled at the shallowness of her breath as she slept, her blond hair falling across her face, her body's no bigger than Sean's. Her arms were stretched out above me as if she were trying to shield me from something, as if I were a child whose body was precious and small and in need of her protection."

Throughout "The Tender Land," I wondered why Sean had committed suicide. Finneran eventually divulged the reason.

"...On the day he died, Florrisant Junior High was winning by a large margin. With little time left on the clock, the coach felt it safe to send in the second string. In those final few minutes, Sean made his first shot of the season..."

"That night at home he didn't mention it. At dinner, he never said a word about the game. After he finished doing the dishes, he went upstairs, made a timid attempt at slitting his wrists, then opted to swallow a fistful of the pills that keep my father's heart beating at a regular rhythm. 'I hate basketball and am no good at it,' he wrote in a letter he left. In the few minutes that he had been sent into play, he had taken the ball down the court the wrong way. The shot he made was to the other team's basket."

I understood Sean's frustration. I was in my freshman year as Sean, and the gymnasium was filled with people yelling, "Shoot it!" I made a basket for the other team. I broke out laughing. My team won the game.

"They (Finneran's parents) don't understand why I would want the world to know some of the things I've written about myself (in "The Tender Land). Well, it's not that I want the world to know things about me that most people would consider private. It's not that at all. In many ways, I would have preferred not to have revealed myself to the extent I felt necessary. But the book revolves around my bother Sean's suicide, and however many reasons or causes can be attributed to someone's suicide, I think, in the end, people kill themselves because they despise themselves deeply, even if for only a moment. They can't continue on in the world being who they are; they can't fathom ever being different from how they are in that moment, and they can't conceive of there being anyone else in the world who is like them," said Finneran.

I sympathized with Finneran throughout the book because my cousin, who is a year older than I, committed suicide two months before I moved to Seattle. I understood how Finneran felt; however, it wasn't my kid brother, who is alive and well and living in Indiana.

Finneran's "The Tender Land" has been written, as a personal essay extended at length yet has remained a quality piece of work.

Tribute to Finneran
This is the most gorgeous book I've read in a decade, seriously. I am a writer and I have taught college-level creative writing and literature for the past thirteen years. While researching a reading list for my class in reading and writing the memoir, it was my good fortune, and that of my students, to happen upon Finneran's book. I used the book that semester, and am using it again this fall for the same class. Aside from being a literary gem, the book provides rich opportunities to teach about writing well. It's lovely, poetic, searingly candid, exquisitely scenic. Every single character is painted in full detail, adding up to the portrait of a family who has lost something big.

I highly recommend this book. If this world had half a brain, it would be on the bestseller list. ... Read more

Book Description

This yearbook-size book, with over a hundred photos, not only relies on personal interviews with living legends, but also goes back in time to pick up scores of Indiana legends from George Rogers Clark through Abraham Lincoln, Chief Tecumseh, Wendell Willkie, and even notorious legends like John Dillinger and D. C. Stephenson. Sports legends, astronauts, and a whole bevy of entertainers with Hollywood portraits complete this marvelous book. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

What is the definition of a Hoosier?
Alas, the book 'Indiana Legends: Famous Hoosiers from Johnny Appleseed to David Letterman' does not offer a definitive answer to this article's title question: What is the definition of a Hoosier? Kevin Kline's recent film 'In and Out', set in the not-so-mythical Greenleaf, Indiana, had a scene near the conclusion where the teacher of the year was trying to deliver a speech with the same title, only to get interrupted before giving the answer. Perhaps the answer contained in this book is not so much a dictionary-style answer, but rather the collective experience of people such as those represented in this book.

The author, Nelson Price, has been a reporter for the Indianapolis Star and News newspapers, the state's largest papers, for over 15 years. Born in Indianapolis, educated at Indiana University, he is a fifth generation Hoosier; his great-great-grandfather arrived in the state just about the time of Indiana achieving statehood. Thus, if anyone has background qualification for producing such a text as this, it would be Price.

Indiana is well represented in the history of the American nation. Three presidents: William Henry Harrison, his grandson Benjamin Harrison were Hoosiers, and Abraham Lincoln claimed substantial Hoosier influence in his backgrounds. Other historical figures in the country's political and historical development include John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), George Rogers Clark, Tecumseh, Frances Slocum, Robert Owen, Eugene V. Debs, Wendell Willkie, and Dan Quayle (eek!). Indiana has in fact had five vice presidents, including Schuyler Colfax and Thomas Marshall.

Little known fact: Reggie Miller and Jane Pauley were both diagnosed with ailments in their childhoods that would have ruled out most any productive role in adult life, Pauley with nervous disorders, and Miller with a crippling childhood disease.

Hoosiers in Hollywood and the performing arts include Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Anne Baxter, Karl Malden, Clifton Webb, Red Skelton, Carole Lombard, John Mellencamp, Florence Henderson, David Letterman, Michael Jackson, Crystal Gayle, Shelley Long, Joshua Bell and Twyla Tharp. Writers and artists include Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Robert Indiana (could have guessed that, right?), Jim Davis (of Garfield fame), T.C. Steele, James Whitcomb Riley, Booth Tarkington, and Theodore Dreiser.

Famous business people have included Madame Walker (the first self-made black millionaire), Eli Lilly, the Studebaker family (yes, the cars), the Ball brothers, and J. Irwin Miller, all known not only for their entrepreneurial spirit, but also their philanthropic drive. The Lilly Endowment is one of the largest in the world today.

Little known fact: 'Go West, Young Man!' is a phrase coined by an Indiana newspaper reporter.

Indiana is also the state of Ryan White, the child AIDS activist whose name became familiar all over the world. It is home Sandi Patty, the gospel singer, and Jane Pauley, the television journalist. It is the birthplace of the fashion designer Bill Blass and the childhood home of Halston. It is the home of sex research Alfred Kinsey and the gangster John Dillinger. It is the home of journalist Ernie Pyle and publisher Eugene Pulliam. It is the birthplace of high flyers Orville and Wilbur Wright (now, there aren't too many states in the nation where a family would have both an Orville and a Wilbur, don't you know...)

Indiana wouldn't be Indiana without sports, particularly basketball, and boasts such legends as Larry Bird, Bob Knight, Oscar Robertson, George McGinnis, and Bobby Plump. Racing goes without saying, too, in Indiana, and the names such as Bettenhausen, Andretti, and Gordon are legendary in the sport. Mark Spitz, Kurt Thomas, Doc Counsilman, Jaycie Phelps, Don Mattingly, and Knute Rockne are other well-known names in the sporting world.

Little known fact: Carl Fisher, the founder of the Indianapolis 500, took his fortune to found Miami Beach, Florida, where he died penniless.

So, you now have a perhaps overblown sense of who comes from Indiana. So what?

Perhaps the best thing about this book is to give a sense of pride of place to native Hoosiers. I am a firm believer that knowing one's personal history is very important, and this includes a sense of the place where one is born and raised. There is, among my acquaintances who have come from elsewhere in the world to live here, a decided reluctance to admit the term 'Hoosier' applies to themselves. For the longest time, I thought that no one actually comes from Indiana, or that perhaps Indiana is a good place to be from, but not a quality to be valued. Nelson Price's book is somewhat of a revelation in that sense, in that it shows the great diversity of persons in a wide range of human endeavours who were born in or had significant residence in Indiana. Once, Steve Martin made a comment describing a place as 'nowhere, USA', and he picked a town in Indiana. Perhaps Indiana is somewhat distant from the 'centre of all things', be that New York, Los Angeles, London, wherever one might choose. However, perhaps its critics are a bit too harsh on the state, and the history of this relatively small place needs to be re-examined, not least by those who reside here.

Little known fact: William Henry Harrison built a plantation as a Governor's Residence in Indiana, and called it Grouseland.

The Hoosier state is richer in history than might at first meet the eye. Nelson Price's book puts in small, journalistic-style stories, accessible narratives of the people who make up this history, past and present. This would make a great gift to anyone who lives in Indiana, who is moving to Indiana, or has a significant Indiana experience in the past.

Little known fact: A large number of astronauts have come from Indiana, and those who were not Hoosier natives often have a Hoosier connection - education from Purdue University, renowned for engineering.

This is a coffee-table book. Wonderful pictures of people past and present, good print production and nice formatting make this a pleasant volume to read.

This book should be on the shelf of every Hoosier
This book is the most exhaustive study of Indiana natives available today. Written in the same conversation style that he uses in his newspaper column, Nelson Price relates the "rise to fame and fortune" stories of many familiar personalities. And to receive such a terrific hardcover book for this price is almost criminal. Everyone should buy a copy today!

Excellent gift book
I was thoroughly entertained and captured by this book. Furthermore, I was thrilled to receive such a large and handsome hardcover book. Everyone should give a copy to every Hoosier they know!

Indiana Natives Immortalized
What a great book! This book compiles a list of all of the great Hoosiers. I was even suprised to discover Indiana natives that I never knew about. The book is informative and has a great looking cover. I'm going to give several for gifts this holiday season. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great biography on important but neglected figure
Alexander William Doniphan was one of the most significant and popular figures in Missouri from the 1830s through the 1870s. He excelled as an orator above all but was also an extremely successful attorney (he defended 188 clients on murder charges with most being found innocent and none receiving the death penalty), military leader, politician and businessman and an influential educator and farmer. Doniphan's most famous exploit, the conquest of New Mexico and Chihuahua and the creation of a law code to govern the first area, was chronicalled several times in the 19th century but this is the first full biography to be published about this important man. I have studied most of the available primary and secondary sources on Doniphan and find this biography to be both balanced and complete. Anyone who is interested in Mormon, Missouri or Western History should find this book worth reading. ... Read more

Book Description

Summer Studies is Ron Dwelle's retrospective on 20 years of cruising the Great Lakes. Places, people, events of the great freshwater sea fill the book with interesting details about sailing, cruising, exploring wilderness harbors, studying local history, and philosophizing about the relationships between life, love, work, and hobbies. ... Read more

Reviews (6)

Excellent content, though in rough draft form
Mr. Dwelle's book is interesting. There is no better or more complete history of the cities and towns that make up the Great Lakes region, making Summer Studies a surprising and valuable textbook.

Dwelle is a good storyteller, writing about the people he meets and the places he visits with obvious affection. And the setbacks that befall all sailors one time or another are here, often told with great humor.

However, Summer Studies suffers from several colosssal flaws. There is no discernible system of organization. It is as if the book was composed on a series of index cards which were then shuffled and made into a book.

Dwelle also never misses the opportunity to insult those who own powerboats. According to Dwelle, they are all ignorant buffoons who have no right to share his precious lakes, but in the book he never takes the time to give the reason for his bigotry.

Dwelle also unwisely allows his leftwing political views to get into the way. He says one town, for example, fell into hard times because of "Reganomics," but he is unwilling to elaborate or substantiate his claim.

I struggled over whether to give Summer Studies three or four stars. On content alone, it is superb. But the book screams out for a better editor, who could have shaped it into a five-star winner.

I hope Dwelle is working on a sequel. And I hope he has learned from the mistakes of "Summer Studies."

Reviewer is wrong
The first review which criticizes this book is wrong. This is an excellent book. He criticizes it for having opinions, but that is what makes this such an unusual cruising book--not just weather and wind speed and anchorages. An excellent book that offers sailing and alot more. I recommend it highly.

good sailing
The book is very enjoyable, with a mixture of cruising and commentary by the author. The author is very opinionated about some matters which makes for speculation as your reading. But the sailling material is excellent and well written and most enjoyable. It's rare to find a really good book about sailing on the Great Lakes.

Abundance Book
This is an "abundance" book. There is an abundance of information and there is an abundance of opinions. Definitely no shortage of opinions. Fortunately, there's also an abundance of wit.

A love story, told well and from the heart, about 20 years of sailing on the Great Lakes, primarily on Lake Michigan, the Mackinaw area, the North Channel of Lake Huron and Georgian Bay.

There is much more in the book than the title suggests. While it does contain a lot of good cruising tips and data, Ron also rewards us with a substantial amount of historical research, not easily found in summary form elsewhere.

For someone who likes to read (sometimes thought to be a lost art) and cruises or hangs around the Great Lakes, this is a hard book to pass up.

Have some fun. Try it, you'll like it--maybe. I did

excellent sailing book
Yesterday UPS delivered my copy of *Summer Studies*. This is a terrific read and I recommend it for your winter reading. You will appreciate Ron's insights into his cruising world and his love of the Great Lakes especially Lake Michigan and his home port of Muskegon. While I'm not as contemptuous of the industrial/military complex as I feel Ron is, nor of the Coast Guard, I am enjoying his book immensely. Unless you are truly cerebral in your command of English, you might also wish to have a dictionary close aboard your reading desk or night table. I love Ron's command of the language.

If you love the Great Lakes as do most of us, you will enjoy *Summer Studies*.

Robert Manning Marquette, MI ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Mark Twain meets Garrison Keillor
Writing from a narrative center somewhere between Mark Twain and Garrison Keillor, author Roger Welsch memorializes the town and inhabitants of Centralia (aka Dannebrog, pop. 356), Nebraska, in what he calls "Bleaker County." Centralia itself is either the center of this windswept prairie state or the center of the universe, depending on who you ask in this small town. It's located not far north of the Platte River and its farmlands, and not far south of the Sandhills, with its population of cattle and cowboys. Life in Centralia gravitates toward the Town Tavern, where many of these story-essays take place, and we meet Welsch's fictionalized friends and neighbors: Lunchbox, Goose, Slick, Woodrow, and Cece -- the regulars. There are also his wife Lily, daughter Jenny, an Indian friend Cal, a kind-hearted bachelor uncle named Grover Bass, a film crew from public television in Lincoln, a mean cuss named Royal Cupp, a rip-tearing adventurer, Luke Bigelow, and many others.

Welsch has an appreciation for the quirky, cock-eyed, and audacious. Like an endlessly curious anthropologist, he's equally fascinated by the everyday and the out-of-the-ordinary. He's a humanist, romanticizing his characters even while he's treating them with tongue-in-cheek irony. He's also willing to show that they can stoop to the unforgivable, or that they do not share his appreciation for people from other ethnic backgrounds. There is a range of tones and sentiments in the book, from comic farce to tenderness and awe. My favorite essay, "Racing Horses at the Centralia Fourth of July," ranges across all three, as his young teenage daughter teams up with a burly cowboy to take second place in a relay race. I laughed and had tears in my eyes by the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and happily recommend it to anyone with an interest in small town life on the Plains. As a companion volume, I'd suggest the short stories of life in a rural Minnesota community in Kent Meyers' "Light in the Crossing."

Great
This is life and this is fun! Beautiful pictures of Great Plain - Small Village life written -so well!- by an expert.

CUDOS from a once Small Town Boy
In "It's Not the End of the Earth,..", Roger Welsch does an excellent job bringing out the humor of small town life by simply telling stories about his friends in Centralia, NE. He has a witty way of giving value to each of the members of this rural community bringing to light the peculiar habits and expressions that make them all unique, interesting, and memorable. I applaud Prof. Welsch's folkloric expose' of the kinds of everyday things that I used to laugh about with my dad - some of my favorite things.

Vintage Rog!!!

If you come from a farm or a small town, you will find yourself wondering how Ol' Rog got to know all of your neighbors so well. I sure was.

This book is a collection of short stories and anecdotes about the characters and events in and around Centralia, Nebraska. Some of them are true, some just *slightly* embellished, and some of them are almost beyond belief, but they sure are funny.

Rog spins his yarns with a style that's all his own; witty, down to earth, and never pretentious. His descriptions and accounts made me feel like I'd known these folks all of my life, and left me with a smile on my face. Good stuff! ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Wonderful real life story that hits close to home!
This is a wonderful book that examines a father and son relationship in a Midwestern farming community. The struggles between generations and the authors own internal conflicts brought me to tears. The author captures the German-Lutheran morality and displays it affectionately. I loved this book because it showed the difficulty in following ones own dream, perhaps at the cost of someone elses dream. How to be true to oneself and find respect for making lifes difficult decisions.

My father gave me this book to read several years ago and it sat in my desk unread. Two years ago, my father passed away, and I just now read the book. How I wish I had read it when he was alive. My thanks to Howard Kohn for writing such a wonderful book, one I wish I had written. ... Read more

Book Description

In Feels Like Far, award-winning author Linda Hasselstrom paints an intimate portrait of family, love, work, nature, and survival against the backdrop of the far-flung South Dakota prairie. Sixteen linked stories tell of the joy of training a first horse, the heartbreak of finding a fatally injured cow, the beauty of cavorting nighthawks, the stubbornness of her father, a rigid old rancher who bucks at old age, the deep, almost spiritual bond she shares with a friend who is diagnosed with AIDS. "In deliciously direct and unsentimental style" (Kathleen Norris), Hasselstrom maps the landscape of her life, demarcating the same beauties and brutalities that intermingle on the Great Plains she calls home. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

I couldn't put this book down
I unboxed this book, flipped open some pages to preview and before I knew it, I had read 60 pages standing in my kitchen. Legs buckling, I sat and finshed the book in one sitting. The book is compelling because Hasselstrom's storytelling makes you want to read further, but also because her writing mesmerizes the soul. I found myself rereading sentences and hanging on the beauty of her unique prose. "How does she write like this?" I kept asking myself. Her ability to take you within the moment is unsurpassed. You don't need to be a cowgirl to enjoy this book, but if you are, you'll finish it in one sitting--or standing--like I did.

Touching...
Reading this book was a wonderful experience. What a touching story of a family that develops as all families do; realizing we love our family members even more when we accept them loving us the only way they know how. All this against the backdrop of a still unspoiled area of America. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in this region, history or living.
Allen

A Beautiful Book
People from the prairies of South Dakota and North Dakota aren't pretentious. Well, some might be, but they tend to stand out in miserable ways. Linda Hasselstrom's writing is like the people of her home: careful, persistent, simple, surprisingly complex, fascinating. Your own family and home may be very different from Hasselstrom's, but through her writing you'll gain a better understanding of your own people and place of origin. Hasselstrom is a master; she shows us how to cherish the tribes we were born into, despite the inevitable losses and disappointments of life. She ranks right up there with Kathleen Norris and Patricia Hampl. ... Read more

Book Description

"Mary Dodge Woodward's personal record of her life on a Dakota Territory 'bonanza farm' adds new detail and texture to the histories of both women and the West...[She] wrote about what she saw: The epic procession of reapers and threshing crews, the wildflowers and birds, the stupendous mirages that could make the wintry prairie an optical wonderland."-Elizabeth Jameson, from the Introduction ... Read more

Reviews (2)

One of my favorite books
I first read the diary of Mary Dodge Woodward several years ago. Because I love the sound of Mary's written voice, I've reread it several times. It never fails to enchant. Reading this book is almost like time traveling back to the Bonanza Farm days. I found this story so compelling that I actually searched out the site of this old farm and visited with it's current residents. The site of the old Dodge farm is just west of Sheyenne Road, a half mile west of the Garrison Diversion substation. I stood in the remains of Mary's old cellar, and showed my children the location of the old barn that had the skull and crossbones sign painted on it. The location of the machine shop continues to hold so much old oil from Mary's time that grass does not grow on the site. This is a wonderful book for anyone that likes to read about the early days of Dakota territory.

A true picture of life on the Plains in the 1880s
A friend loaned me The Checkered Years, and after reading it, I purchased two copies, one to give away and another to lend and ultimately to keep in my library. From the day-to-day writings of Mary Dodge Woodward, the reader begins to understand the central role of weather in the life of the early Dakota settlers - the awesome cold, wind, and heat; the blizzards, drought, and flood - all matter-of-factly but beautifully described in an unpretentious diary. The diary entries give a hint of the tremendous effort it took on Mary's part and that of her family to build up a large wheat farm, and along with that, the uncertainties she faced as a widow growing old. I wish the book had more background information in its introduction and more diary entries that, even though they probably would have seemed repetitive, may have given more focus to the people mentioned in the selections. ... Read more

Book Description

Slumber parties, swimming pools, boyfriends, lakeside summers, family holidays--Susan Allen Toth has captured it all in this delightful account of growing up in Ames, Iowa, in the 1950's. Charming, wise, funny, poignant, and true, Blooming celebrates an innocent and very American way of life. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Growing up at America's core
Susan Allen Toth first appeared on my radar screen with her three volumes of travel essays on England (MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH ENGLAND, ENGLAND FOR ALL SEASONS, ENGLAND AS YOU LIKE IT). She's a soul mate. In BLOOMING, penned in the late 70s, Ms. Toth shares coming-of-age memories as delightful as those from another of my favorite authors, Laura Shaine Cunningham (SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS, A PLACE IN THE COUNTRY).

Susan was born in 1940, and BLOOMING is her account of life in Ames, Iowa until she went East to college in 1957. The ability to relate will increase to the degree that the reader's background shares commonality with the following: maturing in the late 40s and 50s, living in a Midwest plains state, being female. I can only claim identity with the first, but that limited coincidence didn't affect my ability to thoroughly enjoy this volume.

Toth's remarkable memory of her childhood and teenage years could serve as the source for Norman Rockwell paintings as she remembers swimming pools, boyfriends, girlfriends, science classes, the public library, parties, summer jobs, the traditional holidays, and yearly trips to the Minnesota lake where relatives owned a cabin. She was unusually reticent about her immediate family. We learn only that her father died when she was in the third grade, and she and her sister were raised by their mother, a teacher. This absence of familial information is somewhat disappointing as it's perhaps a gold mine of stories not told. For instance, Susan writes about her sister, one year older:

"My sister and I, who fought most of the time, declared an unspoken truce on Christmas morning and hugged awkwardly as we exchanged gifts. For those brief moments, we really wanted to please each other." So, what did they fight over? Boys? Clothes? Maternal attention?

The realist might point out that most of the world's children, and many in America didn't live formative years as idyllic as depicted in BLOOMING. True enough. But I lived the male version in Southern California, and Toth's was sufficiently similar in rhythm to remind me of those Good Ol' Days when I didn't know how good I had it. Thank you, Susan.

I Lived A Similiar Enjoyable Life
Once I began reading this great book, it was hard to take a break for even mealtimes. When I was growing up here in Ohio during the 1950s, it was quite a bit like in the author's story. Not perfect, but a very good life!

The Good Ole Days
It's a refreshing Step Back In Time reading. Difficult to believe such an era ever existed. Today's readers will learn a lot about how to live a simpler, equally enjoyable life.

Blooming: A Small-Town Girlhood
A superbly written book. Here in Omaha, our many neighborhoods were like a dozen Ames, Iowa towns. It's history now, but at least we can re-experience some of the pleasant memories by reading this story.

Blooming: A Small-Town Girlhood
This is the most interesting book I have ever read about growing up in the Nifty Fifties. Nothing can compare to that era, even though I am younger. Times since then have been terribly stressful in this nation. It's a joy to re-read the book, and drift back to peacefulness. Gosh, the author is age 60 this year of 2000 ! Time flies by too fast. Ames, Iowa has been blessed to remain a smaller city, and has a great past. ... Read more

Book Description

What do you dream of being when you grow up?A famous artist like Georgia O'Keefe?Or maybe you want to follow Jim Lovell's path to the moon?Meet 55 people from Wisconsin.From Appleton magician Harry Houdini to Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, they changed Wisconsin and our world.These people broke records, invented wonderful devices, and made our state a better place in which to live. They reflect the rich history of Wisconsin.And they made a difference.Get to know these imaginative, hard-working Wisconsinites and the great things they accomplished.Especially for grades 4 to 7. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Superbly written and presented Wisconsinite biographies.
Wisconsin Portraits showcase fifty-five Wisconsin men and women who have done something special to make a difference in the world. They include athletes, soldiers, entertainers, politicians, scientists, and reformers. These superbly written and presented biographies of Wisconsinites who made the world a better, safer, or more interesting place to live, also make Wisconsin Portraits a "must" for school and community libraries throughout the Badger State. ... Read more

Book Description

Few men in their lifetime have aroused stronger emotions or touched deeper chords than Gandhi. This widely-acclaimed biography has been established as an authoritative account. Compelling, carefully researched and objective, it is the biography of a remarkable figure. Capturing all the nuances of the momentous events it covers, it is a record and analysis of a critical period in South-Asian history that all interested in the area will value. This is the complete and unabridged version of the biography in Oxford India Paperbacks for the first time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

True Indian
The readers who are interested in knowing the world and the great people then it's for them.Well,In my view Gandhi was great but he screwed the country India by dividing to Pakistan.
This book tells only great thing about him but no critics at all. ... Read more

Book Description

In the 1950s and 1960s, Neil Haugerud served as sheriff of Fillmore County in southeastern Minnesota. In Jailhouse Stories, Haugerud describes what it was like to live next to a prison, where jailbirds and jailbreaks were part of family life. We meet colorful people on both sides of the law, whose problems range from the ordinary to the offbeat to the downright bizarre. In the end, Haugerud emerges with his faith in human nature intact.

Neil Haugerud was sheriff of Fillmore County from 1959 to 1967 and a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977. He now resides in Preston, Minnesota. ... Read more

Reviews (10)

Good Cop, Good Cop.
Neil Haugerud's Jailhouse Stories should be mandatory reading at every police academy. If half the police had half of Neil's common sense and compassion, our world would be twice as nice. Neil is a master of understatement and a great storyteller. Read his book and he becomes an old friend, though you've never met. --Christopher Bonn Jonnes, Author of WAKE UP DEAD

A rich read
Rarely does an author intrigue so quickly as Haugerud. Short, rich and sweet in humor, wisdom, humor and story-telling abilities. The stories especially ring true, in character and style, for those of us who grew up just a stone's throw from Fillmore County. Haugerud immediately wisely searches out what so many of us are: misguided at times, but basically good at heart. I found the book fun -- one you literally don't want to put down until you're done. I wonder, by the way, if we shouldn't all lobby for a return to sheriff's quarters that include jails! Seems that Haugerud did more for the well-being of prisoners than thousands of rehab counselors, judges and parole officers. Hurray for Haugerud!

Excellent
As a modern-day law enforcement dispatcher, I couldn't put this book down. I laughed and laughed. It was all too familiar, but kind of sad that these days are gone now. Too many new officers these days are in it for all the wrong reasons. They could stand to learn a lot from the old guys like Neil Haugerud who cut the trails of what law enforcement is today.

real life mayberry
This is a short book, and a quick read. The first chapter is worth the book by itself. In it he tells the story of letting his airplane take off by itself, thats a must read. Many of the other stories a good as well, some better than others. If you like Andy Griffeth you will like this book. I would recommend it to anyone.

Happened upon the book....
I was staying at a Bed And Breakfast at Rushford MN and found this book laying on the coffee table upstairs. I started reading and couldn't put it down until I was done at 12:30 am. A very fascinating book. I wish he would write more. I still want to know why Nehring asked him if he wanted to sleep with his wife. There are stories waiting to be fleshed out here. Can't wait. Good book. ... Read more

Book Description

TO SAY THAT the MacMillans have achieved financial success would be understating the fact considerably. The MacMillans, with their Cargill cousins, are today the owners of the largest privately held company in the world: Cargill, Inc.An engrossing saga of pluck and daring, love and loss, triumph and failure, "MacMillan" is the last great American success story with its roots in the nineteenth century. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great selection if you love biographies.Enjoyable reading
Great summer reading, especially if you love biographies.Tells all about the MacMillans starting in Scotland and up to the present.Another family like the Rockefellers or Kennedys but started much earlier and still going strong.Today one of the wealthiest families in the world.Most people have never heard of them. ... Read more