Staff Recommendations, Week of March 7, 2023

 

Spring into March with new book recommendations.

First up, we've got one, two, three staff recs for the latest work of scientific investigation by Milwaukeean (and two-time Pulitzer finalist) Dan Egan - The Devil's Element: Phosphorus and a World Out of Balance. First, from our proprietor Daniel Goldin: "It’s almost like a child’s riddle: What’s one thing you can have too much of and not enough of at the same time? The traditional sources of phosphorus are disappearing, and the element, a key fertilizer ingredient that is vital to keeping the world fed, is being overused in agriculture. Today’s prime villains are corporate mega-farms that are exempt from the Clean Air Act, leading to runoff that is poisoning our waterways. As in The Death and Life of the Great Lakes, Egan’s historical research, expert reporting, and storytelling skills combine to lay out a problem that must be addressed before it’s too late."

Next, from Tim McCarthy: "Dan Egan is a great storyteller, and this is the full story of phosphorus, an essential ingredient to all life on Earth. From the opening page when a Florida man almost dies of the effects of too much phosphorus, to the contrasting crisis over the depletion of this limited natural resource, Egan describes the broken natural cycle of what many people know simply as fertilizer. Personally, I’m deeply committed to the topic, having spent years teaching children about the environment, and yet I confess that I was not expecting Egan to captivate me with phosphorus. He did. The plain-spoken and dramatic way he conveys information is what works the magic. Well, that and amazing tales of alchemy, battlefield scavenging, the human population explosion, soap bubbles, algae blooms, and so much more. Ok, so here’s my second confession in a row. I haven’t read Dan Egan’s The Death and Life of the Great Lakes. That mistake will soon be corrected!"

And finally, Kay Wosewick adds: "Egan makes phosphorus a fascinating and easily digestible subject. Run-off from fertilizers is a problem many of us near Lake Michigan know about, but the green stuff often seen blooming today is not algae. It’s photosynthesizing bacteria (cyanobacteria), which is highly toxic to man and animals alike. These outbreaks are now common in places as different as the Gulf of Mexico, Florida water canals, and natural pools of water where elephants drink. Once phosphorus enters non-sewage waterways such as these, it is pretty much unrecoverable. Add to that a fixed, rapidly dwindling supply of phosphorus, and a new environmental crisis is making news. Egan does offer several avenues of hope in this fast-paced, true thriller."

Please note that our launch-day event featuring Egan at the Schlitz Audubon Nature Center is currently at capacity and there is no wait list. However, keep an eye on our upcoming events page and our weekly email newsletter for an announcement about a future Egan event!

Our next two recommendations also come from Daniel. First up, it's Pineapple Street, the new novel from power-editor-turned-debut-novelist Jenny Jackson. Daniel says: "Ever since Edith Wharton, great novelists have been writing about the vagaries of life among the moneyed classes of New York. But it’s always Manhattan. Surely there’s a novel about old Brooklyn money? Indeed, there is, and what a delicious tale Pineapple Street is! The three Stockton siblings have more money than most of us can imagine, but that doesn’t mean they make better decisions than the rest of us. Darley? She invoked the generation skipping trust when she wouldn’t have her husband sign the prenup. Georgina? She finally meets Mr. Right, only he might be Mr. Wrong. And Cord? He might have committed the worst sin of all, marrying a middle-class woman who is mistaken for the caterer. It is she, Sasha, who guides us into the world of money, the Tom Townsend of the group, for those who obsess over the film Metropolitan. But by the end of the story, our sympathies have extended quite a bit further, with lots of laugh-out-loud moments along the way. Someone compared Jackson’s first novel to The Nest (or rather, everyone has) and I have to say, it’s about the best comparison I can come up with, too. And I loved The Nest, so connect the dots."

Sounds great, no? Even greater - the March installment of Readings from Oconomowaukee features Jenny Jackson in convo with Daniel and Books & Company proprietor Lisa Baudoin, and they'll be joined on the virtual event call by Milwaukee author Lauren Fox, one of Jackson's editees. Now that's a jam packed event! It's Wednesday, March 22, at 2 pm central. Click here, find out more, and register now.

Daniel also recommends In Memoriam, the new novel by Alice Winn. Of this, he says: "Despite the age requirement of 19 to be a British army solider, there is much pressure at In Memoriam’s boarding school to enlist earlier, what with the rah-rah nature of the student newspaper and the shaming words of the white feather girls. So enlist they do -  and war’s horrors await. In addition to focusing on the quasi-closeted nature of the special friendship at the center of the novel, Winn touches on the race and class tensions of the time, as well as the growing awareness that the British empire may not withstand the confrontation, whether they win or lose. It’s hard to believe that a novel could be so brutal and so romantic at the same time, but that’s the case for Alice Winn’s passionate debut."

Kay also has another rec for us this week, Birnam Wood, the latest from Booker Prize finalist Eleanor Catton. Kay says: "This complex, masterfully paced thriller is set in New Zealand, where a group of young adults secretly grow food on other people’s land. An American billionaire's arrival wreaks wide-ranging havoc on land and lives alike. Tension builds from the first chapter thanks to rich inner monologues of key characters."

And now, it's back to Tim, for his take on Palace of Books, the latest from author/illustrator Patricia Polacco. Tim says: "Patricia Polacco is an iconic picture book author and illustrator. Her stories and distinctive art work rise to the level of beloved children's Americana. Palace of Books is her own story, that of a young girl who moves to the city, away from the family farm where her grandfather taught her to love and protect birds. She's fortunate to have a new teacher who understands her problems with reading and values her drawings and connection to nature. She's even luckier to discover a grand public library, where a welcoming librarian shows her a rare copy of John James Audubon's prints. When her class rallies around her, the school creates something lasting and very special. In the process, Polacco sets out on the road to becoming an artist and amateur ornithologist. It's a loving and beautifully detailed personal story that touched my heart."

In paperback releases this week, we've got a legacy rec to share from former Boswellian Julio Garcia for Brothers on Three: A True Story of Family, Resistance, and Hope on a Reservation in Montana. Of this book, Julio says: "What are the Arlee Warriors playing for? In 2018, a small basketball team of Indigenous high school students from the Flathead Reservation powered their way to the Montana State Championship, which they won despite being out-manned and out-muscled. Despite the success of this team, Abe Streep goes and tries to answer the question that looms for the team: What's next? Through following members of the team, Streep gives an in-depth and personal account on what this championship means for the community of Arlee, what the next step for the players are, and tries to answer the question: What are the Arlee Warriors playing for? This is a book of heartbreak, joy, and a new perspective on the coming-of-age tale."

We'll see you next week with more great books. Until then, read on!

Staff Recommendations, Week of February 28, 2023

 

A couple of staff recs to finish off the month. Sounds good to me!

First, Oli suggests you read A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon, which is a standalone prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree. Oli says: "Samantha Shannon delivers the best of epic fantasy once again, in a standalone novel worth all eight hundred and eighty pages. I was hooked on this glorious, sprawling tale from the start. The lives of four main characters - one each from the North, South, East, and West - are about to change: a long-slumbering evil wakes, bringing fire, plague, and a draconic army raised against humanity. Set 500 years after The Nameless One rose from a mountain of fire and was vanquished, and 500 years before the events of The Priory of the Orange Tree, A Day of Fallen Night is rich in history, legend, and depth to both the world and its characters. I'm obsessed, and you should be, too!"

And what better way to hope for spring than along with The Greedy Worm, a new picture book by Milwaukee author/illustrator Jeff Newman. Recommended by Chris: "What a delight! The Greedy Worm feels like a classic picture book that you’ve loved your whole life, yet it’s still full of imagination and surprise. What do you get when you combine an apple, a cohort of bugs, and one greedy worm? A perfectly illustrated, wordlessly imparted, life-long lesson about sharing, caring, nurturing, and sheltering one another. The kind of picture book that you’ll reflect on throughout life as you navigate how to be a friend."

We'll see you next month with more recommendations. Until then, read on.

Staff Recommendations, Week of February 21, 2023

 

We've got a few recommendations for you this week, so let's get right to them.

First it's Daniel with his write-up of the latest from Pulitzer finalist Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers. Her new novel is I Have Some Questions for You, and of it Daniel says: "Bodie Kane arrives back at Granby, the New Hampshire prep school of her youth, to teach a short class on podcasting, and one of her students asks to take as a project the case of a student death where she posits that the wrong person is in prison. And being that Bodie was her former roommate, this unearths a torrent of memories, while at the same time confronting a #metoo case focusing on her separated husband. As the story unfolds, a panoply of sexism emerges, from microaggressions (who's watching your kids?) to abuse and assault, leading Bodie to question her entire school experience while also trying to figure out exactly what happened in this case. This a twisty and sophisticated take on psychological suspense - I dare you to stop reading!"

Kathy brings us a recommendation for a YA novel by Patricia Park entitled Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim. Kathy says: "I loved this often poignant, sometimes funny story that is full of insights about identity and the struggle to fit in. 18-year-old Kim doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere - not at her expensive private school, nor in her diverse Queens neighborhood, or even with her own family. A well-written exploration of the lives of people who immigrated to the US, people with multiple identities, the distance between the haves and have nots, and the frequent missteps of even well-meaning white people attempting to support people of other races and ethnicities."

And a middle-grade novel recommendation comes from Tim, who suggests Whale Done by Stuart Gibbs. Tim says: "Teddy Fitzroy would never have seen the whale explode if a kangaroo hadn't burned down his house, but this tends to be fourteen-year-old Teddy's world. He’s always in the middle of trouble while solving crimes involving bad things that people do to animals. He's good at it, and living at FunJungle Wild Animal Park, where both his parents work, gives him the desire and the opportunity to nail perpetrators. This time, he's far from his Texas FunJungle home, on a trip to Malibu with his rich girlfriend, whose parents own FunJungle. She cares a lot more about animals than money, and together it's time to figure out why anyone would want to detonate a massive, beached blue whale that already died, right in front of a bunch of mansions. There’s a lot to love about this book. The writing is smooth and fun, the characters are excellent, and I learned a lot. For example, rich people don’t like huge chunks of whale crashing through their obscenely expensive stuff, but more than that, Gibbs does a fine job of explaining nature and environmental issues without lecturing. I truly enjoyed learning from him while I was sailing through his story."

That's it for this week, we'll see you back here in 7 days with more staff recommendations from the Boswellians. Until then, read on.

Three upcoming events: Katherine May for Enchantment (virtual), Mary Llewellyn McNeil for Century's Witness (at Boswell), George Lakey for Dancing with History (at Boswell)

Katherine May, author of Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age 
in conversation with Sally Haldorson for a virtual event
New Date: Monday, February 20, 1 pm - click here to register. 

Boswell Book Company and Porchlight Book Company are so happy to welcome Katherine May back for a virtual sequel to last year’s visit! This time the Wintering author joins us for a pre-publication preview event for her new book, Enchantment, which offers an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all.

Books will be available for pickup at Boswell on February 28, 2023, the publication date. Preorders will receive a special art print with an enchanting quote from the book!

Katherine May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly the feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.

And how about this early praise from Anne Lamott: "I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment. She is so smart, tender hearted, thoughtful. It’s actually enchanting, so wise and lyrical, down to earth and mystical, personal and universal. It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times."

This article from Rachel Abrams of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review gives a very thorough and thoughtful rundown of the charms of the book. A particular highlight is when she talks about the Leonid meteor shower of 1833: 

"One early morning, an estimated 72,000 streaks of light fell across the sky in magnificent arcs. The witnesses, who at the time didn’t have the scientific knowledge to explain it, had to reckon with the mystery in their own ways, each one coming to their own uncertain conclusion about the nature of the universe. That very plurality of meaning is the magic of deep terrain. It doesn’t offer a straightforward answer. Engaging with its layers of history and life isn’t a means to an end but a practice in and of itself, one that requires curiosity, reverence, and ceremony. Most importantly, you create your own meaning."

Katherine May is the New York Times bestselling author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times and . Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Times of London, and Cosmopolitan.

Mary Llewellyn McNeil, author of Century’s Witness: The Extraordinary Life of Journalist Wallace Carroll
at Boswell
Thursday, February 23, 6:30 pm - click right here to register. 

Journalist and author Mary Llewellyn McNeil appears at Boswell for a conversation about her latest work, Century’s Witness, a book about Wallace Carroll, a journalist’s journalist, whose life and life’s work is essential reading for all those who believe a trusted and reasoned press is essential to our democracy.

Today when local newspapers are going out of business, corporate profits drive press coverage, and unbiased reporting is seen as almost nonexistent, Wallace Carroll's life is a lesson in excellence. A reporter with unmatched integrity, Carroll covered the most significant events of his time, from the London Blitz to the United States' withdrawal from the Vietnam War. His story is even more relevant today given the war in Ukraine and Russia's assault on the truth.

Carroll covered the League of Nations in the 1930s, warning the American public of the dangers of fascism, headed United Press's office in London at the outbreak of the war and was among the first journalists to reach the Russian front following the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941. He later joined the US Office of War Information, tasked with "winning the hearts and minds" of those under the Nazi boot. As such, he was well-placed to understand the power of words, and their heightened importance in a time of war.

Mary Llewellyn McNeil is a former editor and writer for Congressional Quarterly, former editor at the Smithsonian Institution and the National Academy of Sciences, and was a journalist at the Winston-Salem Journal. She is coeditor of Demanding Good Governance: Lessons from Social Accountability Initiatives in Africa. McNeil was a student of Wallace Carroll's and a graduate of Wake Forest University and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

George Lakey, author of Dancing with History: A Life for Peace and Justice
at Boswell
Monday, February 27, 6:30 pm - click here to register. 

Boswell presents an evening with Quaker activist George Lakey for a conversation about his latest work, Dancing with History, on his involvement in struggles for peace, civil rights, LGBTQ rights, labor justice, and the environment.

From his first arrest in the Civil Rights era to his most recent during a climate justice march at the age of 83, George Lakey has committed his life to a mission of building a better world through movements for justice. In this memoir, he describes the personal, political, and theoretical - coming out as bisexual to his Quaker community while known as a church leader and family man, protesting against the war in Vietnam by delivering medical supplies through the naval blockade in the South China Sea, and applying his academic study of nonviolent resistance to creative tactics in direct action campaigns.

From strategies he learned as a young man facing violence in the streets to risking his life as an unarmed bodyguard for Sri Lankan human rights lawyers, Lakey recounts his experience living out the tension between commitment to family and mission. Drawing strength from his community to fight cancer, survive painful parenting struggles, and create networks to help prevent activist burnout, this book shows readers how to find hope in even the darkest times through strategic, joyful activism.

From Daniel Ellsberg, former U.S. military analyst who released The Pentagon Papers in 1971, peace activist, and author: "George Lakey stands out for the sheer range of his contributions to peace and justice, especially in strategy and theory, organizing, innovative and risky actions, and teaching and training others. His upbeat, soul-driven spirit underlies it all, as you'll catch in this revealing memoir."

George Lakey recently retired from Swarthmore College, where he was the Eugene M. Lang Visiting Professor for Issues of Social Change. A Quaker, he has been named Peace Educator of the Year and was given the Paul Robeson Social Justice Award and the Martin Luther King Peace Award. His previous books include Viking Economics: How the Scandinavians Got It Right - and How We Can, Too and How We Win: A Guide to Nonviolent Direct Action Campaigning.

Photo credits: 

Katherine May by Alexa Loy Dent
George Lakey by John Meyer

Staff Recommendations, Week of February14, 2023

Welcome to February and welcome back to the Boswellians weekly recommendations blog. 

This week, Kay Wosewick has a short, sweet write-up for On Writing and Failure: Or, on the Peculiar Perseverance Required to Endure the Life of a Writer by Stephen Marche. Kay says: "I am not a writer, and after reading Marche’s astonishingly quotable book, I am very grateful I’m not a writer. If you are or want to become a writer, beware: Marche will give you dozens of pithy reasons why you shouldn’t. But if you insist, Marche helpfully describes exactly what it takes to be a writer. This is a tiny gem!"

At Kay's urging, Chris also read Marche's book, and he recommends it, too! Here's his write-up: "A central (perhaps the central) paradox of the writing life is this: in order to churn out the freest, most generous, truest work possible, the writer must embrace the utter and complete futility of the task of writing. As a writer at the beginning of a new project, I couldn’t ask for a better companion to carry me through the coming, inevitable, necessary days of failure, joy, and frustration. Marche’s essay is such a heartening guide through the writer’s life (of failure). As a reader, Marche’s perspective on the lives, hopes, frustrations, and failures of some all-time greats is nothing short of a marvel. It’s like being able to see into the upside-down of centuries of literature. Any person interested in language, books, stories, and meaning-making will find themselves richer for reading this exceptional little book."

And that's the rec of the week! We'll be back soon with more recommendations, and until then, read on.

Three special events upcoming: Valentine's Day with Elana K Arnold for Harriet Spies, Edward Chisholm for A Waiter in Paris (virtual with Books & Co and Alliance Française, and Katherine May for Enchantment (virtual with Porchlight)

Elana K Arnold, author of Harriet Spies
in person at Boswell
Tuesday, February 14, 4:30 pm - click here to register! 

Join us at Boswell for an after-school Valentine’s Day special featuring Elana K Arnold, who visits with Harriet Spies, the sequel to her chapter book Just Harriet, which continues the adventures of the unforgettable Harriet. And as a special Valentine’s treat, the first 50 people to register and attend this event will get delicious mini cupcakes from Classy Girl Cupcakes – yum!

There are a few things to know about Harriet Wermer: She always tells the truth. She loves spending the summer on Marble Island, where she is an A+ mystery-solver. And, okay, maybe she doesn’t always tell the truth. Maybe she has a tendency to lie quite a bit. When one of the guests at her grandmother’s bed-and-breakfast finds their treasured pair of binoculars is missing, no one believes Harriet when she said she had nothing to do with it. But this is one time Harriet isn’t lying - and she knows that if she can find the binoculars and figure out who really took them, she can prove it.

This series is perfect for fans of Clementine and Ramona Quimby, with a bold, brash heroine and the comforting, big-hearted, funny tone that resonates with readers. Harriet and her adorable kitty Matzo Ball are sure to be long-enduring and beloved characters.

Elana K Arnold is the award-winning author of many books for children and teens, including the Printz Honor winner Damsel, the National Book Award finalist What Girls Are Made Of, and the Global Read Aloud selection A Boy Called Bat. She is a member of the faculty at Hamline University’s MFA in writing for children and young adults program.

Edward Chisholm, author of A Waiter in Paris: Adventures in the Dark Heart of the City
in conversation with Daniel Goldin and Lisa Baudoin for a virtual event
Thursday, February 16, 2 pm - click here to register. 

Join us online for the February installment of our Readings from Oconomowaukee event series, presented in partnership with Books & Company of Oconomowoc. This month’s event features Edward Chisholm, author of A Waiter in Paris, an evocative portrait of the underbelly of contemporary Paris as seen through the eyes of a young waiter scraping out a living in the City of Light. Cohosted by our friends of Alliance Française de Milwaukee.

Be sure to order your copy of A Waiter in Paris now as well. Order here from Boswell or order here from Books & Company.

A waiter's job is to deceive you. They want you to believe in a luxurious calm because on the other side of that door is hell. Edward Chisholm's spellbinding memoir of his time as a Parisian waiter takes you beneath the surface of one of the most iconic cities in the world and right into its glorious underbelly. Waiting is a job that’s physically demanding, frequently humiliating, and incredibly competitive. But it doesn't matter when you’re in Paris, the center of the universe, and there's nowhere else you'd rather be in the world.

Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bébé, says: "A young Englishman’s journey into the merciless world of Parisian restaurants is propulsive, harrowing, and expertly observed. I could practically smell the grease and feel his terror and - ironically - his hunger. I don’t think I’ll dine out in quite the same way again." And from the starred Publishers Weekly review: "A Dickensian tale of a young man’s trial by fire in a French bistro gives rise to biting commentary on Parisian culture in Chisholm’s intoxicating debut."

This review from the Wall Street Journal is well worth checking out. Benjamin Shull talks favorably about the book and highlights Chisholm's method of using blanks to highlight his lack of understanding of conversational French at the beginning of his journey as waitstaff. 

Edward Chisholm was born in England and moved to Paris after graduating from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. Chisholm spent four years working all manner of low-paid restaurant jobs, from waiting and bartending, while trying to build a career as a writer. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Financial Times.

Katherine May, author of Enchantment: Awakening Wonder in an Anxious Age 
in conversation with Sally Haldorson for a virtual event
New Date: Monday, February 20, 1 pm - click here to register. 

Boswell Book Company and Porchlight Book Company are so happy to welcome Katherine May back for a virtual sequel to last year’s visit! This time the Wintering author joins us for a pre-publication preview event for her new book, Enchantment, which offers an invitation to rediscover the feelings of awe and wonder available to us all.

Books will be available for pickup at Boswell on February 28, 2023, the publication date. Preorders will receive a special art print with an enchanting quote from the book!

Katherine May invites the reader to come with her on a journey to reawaken our innate sense of wonder and awe. With humor, candor, and warmth, she shares stories of her own struggles with work, family, and the aftereffects of pandemic, particularly the feelings of overwhelm as the world rushes to reopen. Blending lyricism and storytelling, sensitivity and empathy, Enchantment invites each of us to open the door to human experience in all its sensual complexity, and to find the beauty waiting for us there.

And how about this early praise from Anne Lamott: "I love Katherine May’s new book, Enchantment.She is so smart, tender hearted, thoughtful. It’s actually enchanting, so wise and lyrical, down to earth and mystical, personal and universal. It’s a beautiful offering of light, truth and charm in these strange, dark times."

This article from Rachel Abrams of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review gives a very thorough and thoughtful rundown of the charms of the book. A particular highlight is when she talks about the Leonid meteor shower of 1833: 

"One early morning, an estimated 72,000 streaks of light fell across the sky in magnificent arcs. The witnesses, who at the time didn’t have the scientific knowledge to explain it, had to reckon with the mystery in their own ways, each one coming to their own uncertain conclusion about the nature of the universe. That very plurality of meaning is the magic of deep terrain. It doesn’t offer a straightforward answer. Engaging with its layers of history and life isn’t a means to an end but a practice in and of itself, one that requires curiosity, reverence, and ceremony. Most importantly, you create your own meaning."

Katherine May is the New York Times bestselling author of Wintering: The Power of Rest and Retreat in Difficult Times. Her journalism and essays have appeared in a range of publications including The New York Times, The Times of London, and Cosmopolitan.

Photo credits: 
Edward Chisholm by Morgane Lequand
Katherine May by Alexa Loy Dent

One mid-week event for a book about the Midwest: Jon K Lauck, at Boswell for The Good Country

Starting this week, our event blog posts have relocated to our Boswellians blog. Hello, Boswellians readers! 

Wednesday, February 1, 6:30 pm -

Jon K Lauck, author of The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest, 1800-1900
at Boswell, in conversation with Bill Glauber.
 Click here to register! 

Boswell hosts former Midwestern History Association president Jon K Lauck for an evening in which we’ll celebrate our region with his new book, The Good Country, a first-ever chronicle of the Midwest’s formative century which restores the American heartland to its central place in the nation’s history.

At the center of American history is a hole - a gap where some scholars’ indifference or disdain has too long stood in for the true story of the American Midwest. Lauck, the premier Midwest historian, puts Midwestern 'squares' center stage - an unorthodox approach that leads to surprising conclusions. The American Midwest, in Lauck’s cogent account, was the most democratically advanced place in the world during the nineteenth century, and The Good Country describes a rich civic culture that prized education, literature, libraries, and the arts, and generally put democratic ideals into practice to a greater extent than any nation to date.

In a trying time of contested politics and culture, Lauck locates a middle ground, fittingly, in the center of the country. The Washington Post calls the book "well-researched and provocative," and author Gregory L. Schneider says: "I know of no historian who has done such a superb job chronicling and framing the history of the American Midwest than Jon Lauck." AP News also published a review of the book, which you can read here. Apparently Lauck "developed the book out of his own search for a comprehensive history of the region to teach in his classes at the University of South Dakota. He discovered that while scholarship dedicated to the American South and West was flourishing, historical study of the Midwest had long been neglected." His hard work is our gain! 

From Bill Glauber's profile in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, when asked about Midwest stereotypes: "The stereotype that's most offensive is that nothing happens here so we can just ignore this region. The Midwest was the biggest region in the country at the end of the 1800s. It's where all the manufacturing took place. It's where we grew our food. And it helped shaped early America and helped win the Civil War. And these are things we forget and that we neglect and people on the coasts aren't going to look out for us, so we need to do it."

Jon K. Lauck has authored and edited several books, including The Lost Region: Toward a Revival of Midwestern History, Finding a New Midwestern History, and three volumes of The Plains Political Tradition. He teaches history and political science at the University of South Dakota and is Editor-in-Chief of Middle West Review.

Photo credit: Jon Lauck by Mike Barry