Reviews (1)

The most Confederate state
Driving in Jefferson City, Missouri a few years ago, I saw a man selling Confederate flags by the side of the road. In the St. Louis area, where I live, this man would probably have been beaten to within an inch of his life, but to most Missourians, St. Louis might as well be New York City. In out-state Missouri, publicly displaying a Confederate flag does not seem to be an unofficial felony.

Why? Why did a state which began life and perceived itself as Western become the most Confederate state in America(as some of us like to point out, WE didn't surrender until 1882, when Frank James turned himself in after Jesse's murder)? In this biography of Claiborne Jackson, the Missouri governor who tried to take his state out of the Union, Christopher Phillips argues that Missouri's transformation from Western to Southern basically boiled down to the protection of slavery. Central Missourians, the people around whom this book mostly revolves, did not see owning slaves as contrary to democracy but central to it. Their families had owned slaves since emigrating to the West from Kentucky or Virginia. Threats, or perceived threats, to slavery finally drove segments of Missouri's leadership to a full-fledged Southern identity and led to Missouri's exceptionally violent civil war, which in turn fueled Missouri's fierce postwar attachment to the Confederate States.

This is both a good biography of Jackson and a good study of antebellum Missouri. But I do have a few problems with it. Phillips spends the bulk of his time in the Boon's Lick(now called Little Dixie another result of the war)among the slaveholding aristocracy there. Natural, one assumes, because that's where Jackson was from, but the rest of the state is neglected. St. Louis is paid attention to, but other areas of the state, like the fiercely Unionist regions of the Ozarks, are barely mentioned. And once the war starts, Phillips seems in a hurry to wrap things up; I wish he'd spent more time on the war itself.

Nonetheless, if you're interested in antebellum American history, this book is well worth your time. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Very entertaining!
After reading this book, I realize how things have changed!It would be impossible today to repeat the Missouri kid's journey to California.

The way he wove his story is so Missouri(good old slow-talking but ever-so-charming)

Thanks to James Scott for telling his story of growing up in America! ... Read more

Book Description

This story of growing up in the 30's and 40's in two Midwestern towns is told with humor, insight and at times, pathos.It is a socially significant account of family life during the Depression and civilian life during WWII. ... Read more

Book Description

This is a new collection of columns from legendary newspaperman Gareth Hiebert. For 32 years Hiebert has written a regular column for the St. Paul Dispatch, then for the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Using the pen name of Oliver Towne, he covered St. Paul's past and present, celebrating people and neighborhoods. Some of his best-known columns about the community appeared in City on Seven Hills, now out of print. This new collection also includes St. Paul stories, but focuses more on Minnesota and beyond. In fact, Hiebert's columns on his foreign travels constitute much of the book. Its subjects include:
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meeting Salvador Dali
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interviewing Julia Child
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dining with Paul Bocuse
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visiting with French villagers who risked their lives to aid Jewish refugees
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traveling to the island of Iona in the Hebrides, where Macbeth is buried ... Read more

Reviews (1)

After 70 years, an objective account
Big Bill Thompson has been a political whipping boy ever since he failed to win re-election as Chicago mayor in the 1930s. Subsequent books on Thompson were written by supporters who wished to praise, detractors who wished to condemn or journalists who just wanted to tell a good story. But finally, after 70 years, an objective account has been written of Big Bill Thompson together with the intricate details of the prevailing political climate in Chicago before, during and after the Roaring Twenties.

Learn about the Big Bill Thomson who inherited his money from lucky parents who owned the one section of Chicago which did not burn in the Great Fire of 1871.

Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who was one of the most celebrated athletes in late 19th century Chicago.

Learn about the Big Bill Thompson who as a cowboy turned a profit on his ranch while Teddy Roosevelt was losing money on his.

Learn about a Mayor Thompson who championed an "America First" policy while exploiting class envy for his own political gain.

The reader is left with the impression that Big Bill Thompson invented the type of politics in use today. Rather than focus on Thompson himself, however, the book also explores the campaigns of his opposition, leaving the reader with a full understanding of what worked for Thompson and why it worked.

The scandal involving contributions from gangsters which effectively ended his career is given the space it deserves at the end of the book, but is not the focus of the book, as are most contemporary news stories. The reader is left with a well-rounded and objective account of one of the most successful mayors in Chicago history -- and how he got there.

And as the final coup de grace at the conclusion of the book, the reader will undoubtedly be shocked when they realize that Big Bill Thompson never committed half the indiscretions attributed to Big Bill Clinton.

All in all, it was an excellent and enlightening read. Thoroughly enjoyable. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1974, lured by good wages, a 22-year-old African American college student from suburban Minneapolis started work as a pipefitter trainee for Minnegasco, a Minnesota natural-gas utility. Peggie Samples was one of the first four women hired by the company into non-secretarial jobs after the passage of the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. On the job, she and her beautiful blond friend Sonny met men who were hostile, men who were helpful, and men who were simply flummoxed to find "girls" in their midst. "S'long as a guy does his job," one told her, "it don't matter ta me if he's a gal."

"Minnegasco was blue.

The walls were blue. The uniforms were blue. The entire vehicle fleet was blue. Where there were curtains, even they were blue. In the interests of conformity, and of my private campaign to look just like everyone else, I bought several blue work shirts.

The Buildings and Grounds Department was responsible for the maintenance and care of Minnegasco properties. Those of us who worked there had very little contact with the public, so we were not obliged to spruce up in fancy uniforms to impress people. Never-theless, there was an unofficial dress code in B&G. It, too, was blue.

So on that day, early in the summer of 1974, when Sonny Kohn strolled into the shop wearing a skimpy electric-yellow halter top, every mouth fell open, including mine. Sonny was very tall and very blond, and gorgeous. Without doubt, she was not familiar with the unofficial dress code. She wasn't even wearing a bra, not that there was an official or unofficial code covering bras, so far."

This memoir is the sometimes hilarious story of how they learned to work together-and what they all learned about stereotypes. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Not your typical 'glass ceiling' story.
Carlson is a wonderful storyteller.Her humorous account of working in a formerly all-male company full of good-ole boy Minnesota Scandinavians provides a wonderful backdrop for a discussion of the history of gender issues in the workplace."The Girls are Coming" is a piquant slice of American history which precedes the more modern, white-collar lament of the 'glass ceiling'. ... Read more

Book Description

A middle-class housewife in 1892, Evansville native Albion Fellows Bacon grew into a civic activist who worked on behalf of tenement reform, child welfare, city planning, and a variety of public health efforts. Bacon became Indiana's foremost "municipal housekeeper," a Progressive Era term for women who applied their domestic skills to social problems plaguing their communities. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Well deserved credit.
It's good to see Albion Fellows Bacon get some well deserved credit and attention for her hard work during her live. Although not as famous as her older sister, Annie Fellows Johnston, Albion probably did more for the needy.Very well wrote with lots of information I never knew existed. ... Read more

Book Description

It's a real life coming of age story for a black manchild in urban America.It's about love and the lack thereof.It's gangs, drugs, violence and sex.It's about brotherhood and wanting to belong.Coming Clean is about choices...the wrong choices and survival.It's living and dying, life and death, blue steel, concrete and jungles! It's 4 years, 1968 through 1971.It's young men at the heart of Kansas City's Black East Side, living life on the edge, having fun, but at the same time lucky and happy to be alive. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Great history of depression era living
This really is a great book, it really goes farther than many depression era historical books to put you into the situations faced by those living "below the standard".

If you want to feel the depression Grapes of Wrath style first hand, I know of no better book ... Read more

Book Description

This is a story of a poor little rich girl growing up in Warsaw, Indiana on beautiful Chapman Lake. She came from an affluent home and suffered severe child abuse at the hands of her parents for 18 years, as did her other 5 siblings. This story is dedicated as a thank you for her zany friends, her inspirational teachers and her old lost love. It is an inspirational story of survival of some horrifying life experiences.

It has been written as both a thank you to those who helped me through a rough time and also as an inspiration for others going through similar experiences to find hope and help in their situations. Part of the profit that I am making from this story is being donated to the "Children's Home Society" who house and feed battered and foster children taken from domestic abuse situations.

I am hoping with all of my heart that my story will at least be able to be inspirational to someone else and also perhaps raise some money for my own personal cause of abuse awareness and to help those trying to help others. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Crazy, Crazy, Crazy
In her book, Living Crazy Like Fly, author Caryn Suarez invites her readers to travel with her on a journey from the depths of depression to the euphoria of joy, and back again. Author Suarez's has done an able job as she writes of a young woman's daily trek from hell to heaven, from home to school.

It takes courage for one to write of something so personal, so tragic. And yet Ms. Suarez has provided us an opportunity to explore, with her, the dark corners of that young woman's life and to see the skeletons in the closets of the place she called home for so many painful years.

To you readers:I hope you plan on giving Ms. Suarez a chance to share with you the heart felt story of one woman's tragedy and triumph, of her heartbreak and joy, by buying a copy of this remarkable book.

To Ms. Suarez: I hope you plan on sharing with us, in writing, more of your thoughts and stories.

Kindred Spirit
After reading the book I realized that I was not alone.I think there are many others out there from the '70's who were in the same boat and did not have anyone to talk to about the abuse they were suffering at home.Like the author, we went to school to escape home life. I think it is a great book and that everyone should read this true to life story of survival.It lets you know there is still a chance for all of us to land on our feet.

The best of times, the worst of times growing up in the 70's
Caryn has wrote a great but sometimes sad, sometimes happy book about growing up in the 70's. Though I am a personal friend of the author, I believe the reader will throughly enjoy this book and be able to relate to it from their own growing pains. We had lots of fun in that era and hope you will join the adventure. Just watch out for the holes in the ground :-)

Captivating
I found Caryn Suarez' story captivating, a good read, and something I couldn't put down once I started reading. How easily we picture our friends and neighbors as 'typical,' and yet does anyone ever know what really goes on behind closed doors ? A book I recommend to anyone who wants to read about the hidden truths in small town USA.

Just Butting In
Imagine going home from school, walking in your door and fearing for your life.Now, do that everday for about15 years.Picture yourself walking into a room and looking down the barrel of a large caliber gun held by your father.The man who is supposed to protect his family and children, instead he is beating them until they can hardly move.This happened in my small town.It was in her household that this story takes place.Her home was her private hell.It was a place that was perfect; an "all American household" on the outside, but to the people who lived in the house it was the worst place on earth. However, her life was not totally miserable.The book tells of her high school activities, her friends and "ze Country Club".This was a club that she and her friends formed and it became a club much loved by most of the students.It was special because the leaders did not limit entrance by social status, money or age: they let you be a part of their lives if you were a good person and fun to be with.In my honest opinion, this book was the most depressing, happy, funny, disturbing and most heartfelt book that I have ever read."Living Crazy Like Fly" is a book that EVERYBODY should read.It gives you strength to endure bad things; and it makes good things much better. It brings reality to life and makes the human heart a little bit kinder. ... Read more

Book Description

The second of four volumes comprising a biographical dictionary of state house speakers from 1911 to 1994, this book covers speakers from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Entries provide basic biographical and career information on more than 1,400 speakers. The book opens with an analytical introduction and includes useful statistical appendixes. The four volumes, covering state speakers in the West, Midwest, Northeast, and South, are designed to complement Charles R. Ritter's and Jon L. Wakelyn's book American Legislative Leaders, 1850-1910 (1989). ... Read more

Book Description

Reminiscence of life in rural America during the 1930's and 40's when electricity was slow coming.Maurice takes an interesting and entertaining approach to those "good old days." Covering a variety of areas of life and how they were accomplished. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Remember No Electricity
This book is a wonderful record of the way things were accomplished in everyday living when electricity and cars were beginning to make their way into homes. I found it enlightening, entertaining, and educating. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in rural life, history, and short story telling. It is a wonderful book to read to kids and to elderly people.

Remember - No Electricity
It's a same with all the great books published today, that occasionally a book slide through that should have never made it to the press. ... Read more

Book Description

“Awjeezma!” was the universal dissent, whined—repeatedly if necessary—at an unreasonable mother who wanted the vacuuming done now-not-next-year or a pile of encrusted dishes washed or the sputtering heater refueled.
“Awjeezma! Do I gotta?”
“If I have to tell you one more time—”
“Awjeezma! Awright! Jeez!”

Through the telling of his own madcap childhood, David Benjamin pays homage to the exuberance of countless untamed boys who grew up in Middle America in the 1950s. Whether he’s stalking frogs through the bogs of Tomah, Wisconsin, playing four-kid baseball with his bothersome little brother and two favorite cousins, or sneaking into the theater to watch Saturday afternoon Westerns, Benjamin is the kind of little kid who eagerly would have fallen in with the redoubtable Tom Sawyer.

His tales—including one about a truly sorry incident with Snappy, the snapping turtle, and another about a run-in with a particularly fiendish squirrel—are by turns hysterically funny, caustic, aggrieved, and movingly sincere. Traversing the nooks and crannies of kidhood, from ballfields to swimming holes, The Life and Times of the Last Kid Picked captures a moment in twentieth-century American life, as Benjamin magically recalls the myriad scrapes, intrepid adventures, and wanderlust that once made childhood such an exhilarating enterprise. ... Read more

Reviews (8)

Stirred many memories...
Mr. Benjamin's book is outstanding. For any boy that grew up in the Midwest playing sports - especially baseball or football - with friends in backyards, side lots, or in any empty field, this is an absolute must-read. The descriptions of people and places are written in such a way that made me laugh uncontrollably and just smile at the same time. Highly recommended.

Believe it
I grew up playing for the "publics" in the town of Tomah. The author was four years ahead of me but my experiences were similar. I recognized almost every character in the book and remembered parts of my childhood that had been long forgotten. I never dreamed that this book would also tell the story of so many others growing up in the 50's. I applaud the author for this excellent book and wonder how he could remember so much of his childhood.

A great gift
Everybody knows this kid. He was either in our class or in the family. Great storytelling. I think I married him as well. Have given this book for graduation, teen's birthday and now father's day. Good for all ages.

An excellent book from an excellent author
Mr. Benjamin spoke at my school today on his tour for this book, and I had the chance to speak with him beforehand. His speech was engaging, and at the lunch prior to the event he had a chance to talk on a more personal level about "Last Kid Picked" and sumo wrestlers. I recommend this book as well as his short "screeds," vignettes about his childhood in Tomah.

Good real life story of all boys in th 50s
This is a must read for all of us the wished that we were the best jock, but only measured up to normal. It tells just how good we had it and really how funny life is after a few years. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Delightful and Inspiring
This book truly is a delight. I could easily imagine being there and experiencing the hardships as well as the precious memories Nell exerienced throughout her life. I was captured by the love of the family members, although not show physically, it was an awesome and strong bond. It seemed to enable them to face the hardships and enjoy the good times all the more. I would highly recommend this book. It is a refreshing glimpse into ordinary lives that were lived in extraordinary times.

Heartwarming
It always warms my soul to read stories of true life experiences told from the heart of those who lived them. In this work by author Nell M. Berry I was privileged to share the memories of her youth and her beloved family during his growing up years in Missouri.
Told in refreshing simplicity, the author shares numerous happenings of her childhood and the meaning and impact they had upon her life. Raised during the depression area, Ms Berry relates the hardships her family endured, but also shows the spirit of unity of family to survive through hard times.In this work, she communicates to the reader the commitment of friends, the importance of love, and the appreciation of the smallest blessings.
I found this book to be truly heart-felt in it's meaning. A sharing of an era perhaps forgotten by many, never known by some, yet one that is etched in the portals of time. A book about days of yesteryear that have helpedfashion the world we live in.
Shirley Johnson
Senior Reviewer
MidWest Book Review
... Read more

Book Description

From the vantage of middle age, Sara recalls with pride and humor her early years of growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm with a twin sister in the 1940s and '50s.This is a personal portrayal of Scandinavian-American parents, siblings, family, and neighbors who painted the rural landscape of western Wisconsin in somber tones of duty and self-sacrifice, yet touched it with hope and grace. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A comfort book
I am a college student in L.A. who is from (and intends to go back to) Minneapolis, Minnesota.Whenever I get homesick for the midwest I pick up "Dancing the Cows Home" and read a chapter or two andinevitablyfeel better.I love hearing about her close-knit Scandinavian family andthe dynamics of farm life.I can highly recommend this book to anycorn-fed, prarie-loving midwestener!

A realistic account of growing up in the midwest
This book caught my attention because I grew up on a small farm in Mn.I could relate to many of the stories told by Sara. Especially the story in which the little girls go to the big city.I thought it was interestingthat it was Sara's mother who was so tied to the farm rather than thefather. I'm glad that her father got a chance to do what made him happy atthe end.I'm also glad that Sara made peace with her roots and was able tocome back to and love the place that she was so eager to leave.Although Ino longer live on a farm I live in the heart of farm country. This memoirtook me back to my own wonderful, but rarely easy, days of farmlife. It wasthe best place in the world to grow up as far as I'm concerned. What a pitythat so few people will experience it as more and more cooperative farmstake over. The decline of the family farm is a very bad thing for ourcountry.Thank you Sara De Luca for preserving your experience for futuregenerations. The only negative thing that I can say about this book is thatI felt it had a rather abrupt ending.It lacked closure for me in someway. ... Read more

Book Description

Eight-year-old Ralph Kern had been a farm boy only two years before Depression and droughts threatened the family's economic survival-but didn't dampen boyhood joys. By the time of World War II, the family had survived, and Ralph chose farming as his career. From then until he left farming in mid-1960s, he proved his ability on four farms with widely recognized crop and hog programs. Still working with farmers in Pike County, IL he gave fuller rein to his passions for fishing, hunting, and collecting farm memorabilia. Now over 80, Ralph has written essays on his life and experiences in farming under adversity and in better times, highlighting his love for machinery. Hunting, with well-loved bird dogs, and fishing in many Midwestern, Northwest, and Canadian rivers and lakes get equal billing. And throughout are memorable people with whom he lived, worked, hunted, fished, and collected for three-quarters of a century. ... Read more