Going Driftless: Life Lessons from the Heartland for Unraveling Times - Softcover

Lyons, Stephen J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0762780657 ISBN 13: 9780762780655

Publisher: Globe Pequot, 2015

Synopsis

Something truly fascinating is afoot in a region of the Upper Midwest commonly known as the Driftless that runs counter to many of the trends in the rest of the nation and just might be blueprint for the future of a downsized United States. Covering parts of four states—Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Minnesota—that share a shoreline with the Mississippi River, the Driftless area was spared the glacial activity that leveled the rest of the Midwest landscape. What is left is a common culture of tucked away hills and valleys, where small-scale farming, a respect and love of nature, and close-knit community are a way of life.

A seasoned journalist known for his nuanced reporting, Stephen J. Lyons tells the stories of the Driftless through the colorful and unforgettable voices of residents who defy easy characterizations and lazy narratives. Readers will meets seed savers, off-the-gridders, birders, farmers, musicians, artists, and writers, all who share a common bond in a separate nation called the Driftless.

About this title

About the Author

Stephen J. Lyons is the author of The 1,000-Year Flood, A View from the Inland Northwest: Everyday Life in America and Landscape of the Heart. He is two-time recipient of a fellowship in prose writing from the Illinois Arts Council and has published articles, reviews, essays, and poems in numerous anthologies and publications, including Newsweek, Chicago Tribune, The Sun, Washington Post, Salon, and High Country News. He lives in Illinois. 

Review

Lyons has written a book of people and their place: of the outsized characters who seek sanctuary in the region's hills. In particular, he's interested in the idealists--with their small-scale farms, co-ops and intentional communities--who have gravitated to the Driftless since the 1970s..."Going Driftless" is anything but driftless. These character profiles anchor the book. It is grounded and earthy, inspired by the way a place nurtures us. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

Fun read...colorful characters, doing curious work, in interesting places. What fun to listen in on their stories, told by this natural-born storyteller.  (Hearts & Minds Booknotes)

"Find out what life is like in the Upper Midwest region known as the Driftless area," in this Wisconsin Public Radio interview with author Stephen J. Lyons:  wpr.org/shows/going-driftless

The book isn't a travel guide to the region, but rather a portrait of the people and enterprises that make it a separate world. (MinnPost.com)

Journalist Stephen J. Lyons explores the "driftless" zone of the Upper Midwest - including Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and Illinois - to find out what binds us all together amid the hills and dales, the family farms and the close-knit communities. (OnMilwaukee.com)

About this edition

• Publisher: Globe Pequot
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0762780657
• ISBN 13: 9780762780655
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 240