"In his wonderful new book Peter Smith has assembled a year’s worth of short pieces that prove the true power of story lies not in the ability to reveal but to conjure. Visceral and poignant, these beautiful tales each catch and release a moment. Suddenly memories begin to flood like the Mississippi River in springtime. As he does on Minnesota Public Radio, whether it’s a crisp autumn day under a Hudson’s Bay blanket, a Little League game, or perhaps the best opening line ever in ‘Meditation on a Lawnmower,’ Peter reminds us that a year—a lifetime—is made of episodes, times with those we love, community, and family. In Peter’s world we are verbs not nouns, always changing, living, experiencing, and yet like the seasons, bound to come around again. These little gems, or at times more like Pop Rocks, burst forth; we belong." —Kevin Kling

<p>"I’ve had the pleasure of knowing Peter for a long, long time.  A great guy—and it turns out—a great writer.  His radio commentaries on life in Minnesota are real jewels." —Gary Eichten</p>

<p>"Smith’s prose can have the flavor of Bill Bryson or of that old Minnesota standby Garrison Keillor. Other parts of Almanac are infused with an autumnal quality that’s movingly elegiac. Smith’s little volume is, overall, heartfelt and appealing." —<i>Star Tribune</i></p>

For Peter Smith, the assignment from Minnesota Public Radio was simple: try to do something about Minnesota. So he began exploring the simple, everyday Minnesota things he came across and sharing them with listeners each Tuesday morning. The result is a hilarious, often wry, and always remarkable portrait of everyday life in the Land of 10,000 Lakes that will resonate with Minnesotans from the state's biggest cities to its smallest towns.A Porch Sofa Almanac is the first collection of Smith's essays for MPR-stories that keep close to the ground and reflect on the common experiences of being a Minnesotan. Small-town football, stacks of Hudson Bay blankets in an antique store, ice fishing, and even those soggy gloves that emerge from melting snowbanks each spring. Following the calendar year, Smith's reflections are the perfect season-by-season companion for that chair by the fireplace, a bench by the campfire, a seat on the bus or train-or, of course, a porch sofa.A Porch Sofa Almanac ultimately casts Minnesota in a wholly unique light. As Smith writes, "The entire state comes across as some wonderful, slightly quirky treasure unearthed at a church basement rummage sale." Much loved-perhaps a little rough around the edges-and absolutely ready to be shared.
Les mer
An anthology of Peter Smith’s captivating musings on being Minnesotan.
Contents Preface Porch Sofas Off to College: A Parental Spreadsheet School Starts This Morning We Want to Go Back, Too In Praise of Small-Town Football Conflicted Autumn Golf An Open Letter to the City of Hopkins Hudson's Bay Blankets Splitting Wood The Menu Changes Good Autumn Reads Darn Packers Fans Election Night Radio No-Bleeping-Vember Thanksgiving Road Game A Thanksgiving Lesson An Amusing Pastime North Country Fashion Statement Winter Wimps Together Again for the Holidays Sulking in a Winter Wonderland A Christmas Shopping Memory Now It Can Be Christmas Alas, Poor Taurus Dog Days in the Ice Fishing Shack The Inscrutable Finn Crows Real World Valentine's Day A Timeless Saga Split-level Shack-whacky Contemplating Gutter Gloves Thinking Ill of the Literate Jogging Again Talk about Your Golf Drives Cooking with Grandma Are You with Us? Or Are You One of Them? Planting Corn A Little Frugality, Por Favor Lilac Season Meditation on a Green Minivan They're Back What's the Rush? A Tiny Discrepancy Is Ambivalence the Perfect Father's Day Gift? Tacky, Tacky, Tacky People Watching at Lake Calhoun Little League. Big Problem. Thanks, Mom Meditation on a Lawnmower A Minnesota Must On Finding a Bungee Cord In Praise of Municipal Golf Who Turned on the Air Conditioning? Homegrown Tomatoes Still Going Out for the Team Start the State Fair without Me A Fifties Flashback Acorns and Toyotas 4 Sale
Les mer
"In his wonderful new book Peter Smith has assembled a year’s worth of short pieces that prove the true power of story lies not in the ability to reveal but to conjure. Visceral and poignant, these beautiful tales each catch and release a moment. Suddenly memories begin to flood like the Mississippi River in springtime. As he does on Minnesota Public Radio, whether it’s a crisp autumn day under a Hudson’s Bay blanket, a Little League game, or perhaps the best opening line ever in ‘Meditation on a Lawnmower,’ Peter reminds us that a year—a lifetime—is made of episodes, times with those we love, community, and family. In Peter’s world we are verbs not nouns, always changing, living, experiencing, and yet like the seasons, bound to come around again. These little gems, or at times more like Pop Rocks, burst forth; we belong." —Kevin Kling
Les mer

Produktdetaljer

ISBN
9780816672325
Publisert
2010-08-25
Utgiver
Vendor
University of Minnesota Press
Høyde
216 mm
Bredde
137 mm
Dybde
15 mm
Aldersnivå
01, G, P, 01, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
144

Forfatter

Om bidragsyterne

Peter Smith (d. 2016) lived in Hopkins, Minnesota. He wrote magazine articles, fiction, poetry, an occasional op-ed piece, and was a weekly contributor to Minnesota Public Radio's Morning Edition with Cathy Wurzer.