Minnesota Books

Using Freudian theory as a base, this scholarly treatise postulates that film noir is premised on conflicts involving gender, race, and nationality. Since much of the text necessarily examines psychoanalytical concepts, the reading requires patience and careful scrutiny. The authors' conclusions are at best edifying and at worst eye-opening--and almost certainly will cause readers to view familiar movies in a brighter light. Touch of Evil, for example, well known to most noir mavens, is thoroughly probed in its treatment of sexuality and ethnicism. The writers' judgments can thus be assessed as to their plausibility in accordance with readers' beliefs concerning Freudianism or simply in their evaluation of the motives of director Orson Welles. If the reader has not seen the film, however--as in the lesser known Secret Beyond the Door--it will be impossible to apply such a deduction. Surely, any of the authors' conclusions can be theorized to be intentional on the film creators' parts, or subliminally driven, or simply done for a technical reason. For instance, in Touch of Evil, the writers contend that Welles had Charlton Heston translate a Spanish statement into English in order to demarcate linguistic (and thus ethnic) identity. But might this not have been done merely to clue in the audience? Regardless, this text is very well researched and composed and should be of major interest to serious students of film noir.

Calvin has a writing style that is just simply inviting and keeps me reading onward...feeling the atmosphere. He has tons of facts throughout describing everything a person could want to know about canoeing and enjoying the waterways.

I discovered this book when I was living in San Francisco, and it convinced me to move back home to the Midwest. Le Sueur is an earthy, populist writer. This is a history of Minnesota, but its doesn't trouble itself with governors and generals. Le Sueur writes about Indians, farmers, cornhuskers, pioneers, the ordinary people who built the Midwest. And her descriptions of nature and weather are beautiful. She loved people, she loved her native country. If you're from the Midwest, buy this book. You'll either get homesick, or you'll be glad you never left home.

When I launched into my MS field work in northeastern Minnesota, I was completely unfamiliar with the Great Lakes-Saint Lawrence transitional forest ecosystem, and therefore not a little unprepared! Fortunate indeed that I stumbled onto this little treasure.

Like all Sierra Club Naturalist's Guides, "The North Woods" starts with geology and soils, then ventures into plants, animals, and ecosystem structure. Simple photographs and line drawings are provided for some of the most common and especially important plant and animal species. If you're looking for a conventional field guide, however, this ain't it. Instead, "The North Woods" is a guide to communities and ecosystems. An excellent investment, and next to Heinselmann's "Boundary Waters" one of my favorites. -William Adair, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Utah State University

"Northern Treasure: The Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Horticultural Research Center" tells the incredible story of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Horticultural Research Center, famous for the origin of the 'Wealthy' and 'Honeycrisp' apples and many other beautiful flowers, plants, and trees.

Filled with lush color photographs of the Arboretum gardens in each of the dramatically contrasting four seasons Minnesota is famous for, "Northern Treasure" more than fulfills its mission to celebrate and chronicle the 50th anniversary of the Arboretum and the 100th anniversary of the Horticultural Research Center. Tribute is paid to past directors of the Center and Arboretum, and historical black and white photographs of the beginning fruit tree breeding farm are interwoven with the text. "Northern Treasures" is both a magnificent testimonial and a tasteful coffee table gift to any lover of nature's beauty. Perhaps its legacy is best appreciated in a world where restful scenic gardens are becoming rare experiences.

As an aside, I am descended from a neighbor of the original pioneer fruit breeder and founder, Peter Gideon. My great great grandfather was Henry Stubbs of Stubbs Bay, on Lake Minnetonka. I remember reading a radio play written by my uncle, Don Stubbs, that told the story of the beginning of the Wealthy apple as seen through the eyes of his pioneer Quaker neighbor farmer. I particularly enjoyed the early historical photographs and contributions of "Northern Treasure." It also should motivate residents and vacationers to visit the beautiful Arboretum and gardens, located 9 miles west of I-494 on Hwy. 5 in Chanhassen, Minnesota.

Nancy Lorraine
Reviewer

This excellent field guide is invaluable for those of us who live in the northern part of the Midwest. It covers the many types of habitats we enjoy here, and the plants, animals and birds found in them. The book is full of vivid pen and ink drawings showing samples of the variety of wildlife which abound here. It is extensive enough to provide throrough information, yet small enough to tuck into a backpack on a camping trip. It's a wonderful value and a fascinating read. Go for it!

Got this as a gift for my husband, but we both laughed our arses off!:)
Who knew Minnesota was so entertaining?! Quite a depature from Lake Wobegon!

I loved it. Very well written with accurate documentatio

This short story is a like a sad version of the The Gift of the Magi with the sacrifice, but without the reward. The story is one of an old man looking for work during a depression. He finds a temporary seasonal position, yet his day is long and hard. When he goes home he must act a role with his wife. This is a sad tale of a sad man - a man who has lost it all, but must keep plodding on. While working, he overhears part of a conversation about himself, and he is referred to as the old bird.

This story is heart-wrenching. I have known people like Mr. Newman, men broken and beaten by life, tortured, timid men. The story evokes great emotion.
But what makes this book so excellent is not the story. It is this special edition. The story is enhanced by the illustrations from Barbara Harman. This special edition was created by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts. The project created 260 signed, numbered, limited-editions of this soft story. The Old Bird, a Love Story was published by the Minnesota Center for Book Arts on December 7, 1991. It was the fourth in an annual series commissioned to celebrating winter in the Upper Midwest. The story previously appeared in the Rocky Mountain Review, (1944) and in Prince of Darkness and Other Stories (Doubleday, 1947).

The book is a treasure for the Powers' fan, or for a serious bibliophile. Beautiful to hold and read, the book itself is a work of art, let alone the art of the story within on the pages. Gaylord Schanilec, MCBA Artist-in-Residence in 1991, designed and printed the book on Rives Heavyweight. The Garamond type was composition-set at Harold Berliner Type Foundry. There were two editions of this special edition - first the standard edition which consists of 260 copies, numbered and signed by the author and bound by Greg Campbell of Campbell-Logan Bindery in a non-adhesive paper binding. Second the deluxe edition consists of 40 copies, lettered and signed by the author and the artist. This edition is bound by Dennis Ruud in quarter leather with an original monoprint by Barbara Harman in a leather-edged slipcase. These special editions of this book were made possible in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts Literature Program and with the generous support of Allegra and Paul Parker and Gail and Henry See.

If you can track down this edition, it is tremendous.

This is a very special book for anyone interested in history, especially those who had ancestors who passed through Minnesota. It's a collection of stories collected by the Daughters of the Americal Revolution, who felt it was important to record the memories of those individuals who helped settle the state before it was too late. The stories are presented pretty much in the words of the storytellers with little editing. Reading them gives a person some perspective into the many aspects of frontier life and the types of people who formed our nation.