Description
Book SynopsisDo Midwesterners have a peculiar way of looking at the world? Is there something not quite right about the way they see things? For such a normal place, the heartland has produced some writers who take an individual approach to storytelling. This book contains 33 tales that showcase the wonderful vision of some of the region's best-known writers.
Trade ReviewThe Midwest can be derided as being the middle of nowhere, but Not Normal, Illinois makes a stong case that it's actually in the middle of everywhere. The ordered grids of farm land you see as you gaze out the window of a plane flying over this vast, unpopulated region are a deception—look closer and you'll see immense literary talent sprouting from and feeding off this fertile loam.Spring 2010
* raintaxi.com *
Michael Martone succeeds in corralling a wonderful array of tales, one that would make all Midwest folk, snapping the straps on their overalls and sniffing the apple pie on the ledge, right proud.May/June 2010, Vol. 31, No. 4
* American Book Review *
Not Normal, Illinois is a fine and strongly recommended read for any who want a sampling of mid-western philosophy.December 2009
* Library Bookwatch *
Table of ContentsIntroduction: In the Middle of the Middle of Middletown
Patty-Cake, Patty-Cake... A Memoir, by Max Apple
Childhood; Detroit; Michigan, by Joel Brouwer
Beginnings, by Robert Coover
Some Notes on the Cold War in Kansas, by Robert Day
The One Marvelous Thing, by Rikki Ducornet
Visions of Budhardin, by Stuart Dybek
River Dead of Minneapolis, by Mark Ehling
Fuck With Kayla And You Die, by Louise Erdrich
All You Can Eat, by Robin Hemley
13 Remotely Related to South Bend, by Lily Hoang
Happy Film, by Laird Hunt
Long Walk, by Sandy Huss
Round, by Lily James
Anton's Album, by Janet Kauffman
A History of Indiana, by Jesse Lee Kercheval
Still Life with Insects, by Brian Kitely
Mobile Axis: A Triptych, by Clarence Major
The Digitally Enhanced Image of Cary Grant Appearing in a Cornfield in Indiana, by Michael Martone
Talking to my Old Science Teacher about Drawings in which I Killed Him, by Brian McMullen
A Harvest, by Glenn Meeter
Other Electricities, by Ander Monson
The Mausoleum, by Susan S. Neville
Submarine Warfare on the Upper Mississippi, by Lon Otto
Wednesday Night Reflections, Edited Thursday, by Erin Pringle
The Great War, by Josh Russell
July Snow, by Scott Russell Sanders
The Red Bow, by George Saunders
Medieval Land, by Steve Tomasula
Natural Citizens, by Deb Olin Unferth
Session, XX, by Kellie Wells
Metaphysics of the Midwest, by Curtis White
Luna Moth, by Michael Wilkerson
Baby; Pornography, by Dianne Williams
