Tag: National trade books

"Flying Funny": The unusual gravity-defying first act of improv theater’s founding father, Dudley Riggs.

April 20, 2017

“Fliffus.” “Word Jazz.” “Instant Theater.” Now we know it as Improvisational Theater. The father of improvisation and founder of the Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis in 1958, Dudley Riggs grew up in the circus. His parents were circus performers and as a young boy, Dudley was thrown into the exciting, adrenaline-fueled world of performance. His … More "Flying Funny": The unusual gravity-defying first act of improv theater’s founding father, Dudley Riggs.

Lorna Landvik on returning to Patty Jane’s world

March 31, 2017

BY LORNA LANDVIK One of my first editors was a woman named Leona Never, who while reading through slush pile submissions back in the ’50s came across a manuscript she insisted her boss not only read, but publish, pronto. It was Peyton Place. Leona was old-school and managed to rise up in the sexist women-are-secretaries-men-are-bosses … More Lorna Landvik on returning to Patty Jane’s world

"I was going to be one of *those* teachers: the natural and inspiring who wore stylish sport coats, whose classroom was a sacred space of literature, of rebellion, of learning. But nobody told me how hard it was going to be."

March 23, 2017

Yesterday, the Minneapolis City Pages went live with a front-page feature on Tom Rademacher, a middle-grade English teacher and Minnesota Teacher of the Year who has written a book about the messy, messy, messy business of teaching. Select excerpts from his book, It Won’t Be Easy, bring to vivid life moments from his teaching career in … More "I was going to be one of *those* teachers: the natural and inspiring who wore stylish sport coats, whose classroom was a sacred space of literature, of rebellion, of learning. But nobody told me how hard it was going to be."

"Playing Indian" and the US colonial imagination.

March 16, 2017

BY STEVEN SALAITA A few months ago, The Intercept published an eye-opening investigation into alleged war crimes perpetrated by the famed Navy SEAL Team 6, the elite military unit credited with killing Osama bin Laden. While the report highlights troublesome, often deranged, behavior of individual SEALs acting in accordance with a culture of contempt for … More "Playing Indian" and the US colonial imagination.

Throwback Valentine’s Day: A bittersweet collection of Prince’s finest love songs

February 14, 2017

BY JIM WALSH On Valentine’s Day 1996, Prince married Mayte Garcia at Park Avenue Methodist Church in South Minneapolis. In honor of the funky nuptials that day, I took the opportunity to compile a list of Prince’s greatest love songs for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, reprinted in Gold Experience: Following Prince in the ‘90s … More Throwback Valentine’s Day: A bittersweet collection of Prince’s finest love songs

In latest Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota installment, the typically flawless Holmes is plagued by doubt and illness.

February 2, 2017

BY LARRY MILLETT In his four novels and 56 short stories featuring Sherlock Holmes, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle always depicted the great detective in the prime of life. The Holmes in these tales is not only a perfect thinking machine but also athletic, fearless, and supremely confident. Yet what might have happened to Holmes as … More In latest Sherlock Holmes in Minnesota installment, the typically flawless Holmes is plagued by doubt and illness.

Going Underground: Jim Walsh on his earliest memory of music writing.

December 20, 2016

BY JIM WALSHExcerpt from the Introduction to Bar Yarns and Manic-Depressive Mixtapes My earliest memory of scribbling in a notebook while listening to music is New Year’s Eve, 1974. I was fourteen and then as now not a big fan of mean girls and boys, so that night I intentionally stayed away from the junior … More Going Underground: Jim Walsh on his earliest memory of music writing.

Christmas Trees + Beatrice Ojakangas’s Pulla People holiday recipe.

December 14, 2016

BY BEATRICE OJAKANGASExcerpted from Homemade The Christmas season for us was marked by the beginning of Christmas tree season in October. Isä [Ojakangas’s father] had discovered that he could make a bunch of money by cutting and selling Christmas trees. He would pile the cut trees onto the platform of his truck and deliver the … More Christmas Trees + Beatrice Ojakangas’s Pulla People holiday recipe.

Cutting Class Nobly: Toby Thompson on Bob Dylan

October 17, 2016

BY TOBY THOMPSON My reaction to Bob Dylan’s being awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature is, oddly, less public than private. It’s public in that in 1971 I published the first serious book about Dylan’s life, and since 1969 have written of his work fairly regularly. It’s personal in that Dylan’s lyrics, poetry, and … More Cutting Class Nobly: Toby Thompson on Bob Dylan