Blue Men and River Monsters
Blue Men & River Monsters: Folklore & The North
edited by John Zimm
Wisconsin Historical Society Press • ISBN: 978-0-87020-670-2 • $18.95 Softcover
“In the days that are forgotten, in the unremembered ages …”
This line from Blue Men and River Monsters comes from legends, stories and tales gathered in 1930s Wisconsin through the Works Project Administration, and it is my new favorite way to start a tall tale.
This book gathers stories – some formed here, others adapted from the “Old Country” – and is a treasure chest for those intrigued by folklore. It also records oral histories of towns and people throughout Wisconsin.
The book preserves these Depression-era voices, recounting, as best they remember, the legends used to shape culture and teach values and the histories of their place.
Sometimes, of course, memories play tricks – did rattlesnakes really once roam in Hayward? – but this volume is an invaluable way to hold onto our communal past so it does not become part of those “days that are forgotten.”
Water and What We Know
Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of a Northern Life
by Karen Babine
University of Minnesota Press • ISBN: 978-0-8166-9678-9 • $17.95 Softcover
This flow of essays by Karen Babine echoes the experience of watching a fallen leaf wander and eddy its way along a slow-flowing river. Sometimes just observing the journey is satisfaction enough.
Karen shines best when describing her northern sensibility: “There is a good reason why Minnesotans dry up when separated from the water of their home state. … For Minnesotans, water is, at its root, a language. Water is the way by which we can understand ourselves, each other and the surrounding world.”
You can wrap yourself in the poetry of these essays, but it’s not rosy prose. She serves strong critiques of those who do not pass the muster of her philosophy and draws judgment from natural disasters.
The value of essays in this tradition of Thoreau and Olson is to share the insights of others, to measure them by our own sentiments and ultimately to examine better how we meet and see the world.
Where Silence Gathers
Where Silence Gathers
by Kelsey Sutton
Flux • ISBN: 978-0-7387-3947-2 • $9.99 Softcover
Bemidji State University graduate Kelsey Sutton creates a fresh way to explore the emotional turmoil of young adults. Her main characters see emotions embodied as people, able to make friends of Fear and Revenge.
This companion (not sequel) to her popular debut, Some Quiet Place, again follows a young woman through her life choices. The paranormal tone enhances the storytelling and creates an enticing read.
Books reviewed here, unless otherwise indicated, should be available through local booksellers by using the ISBN number.