PRAISE FOR DAIRYLANDIA: WINNER OF THE 30th ANNUAL MIDWEST BOOK AWARD
“Hannah has woven together an honest and humorous self-portrait and a fascinating collection of stories about an array of Wisconsinites. It’s clear that a deep love for Wisconsin’s people and its landscapes runs through these stories.” ”
“A remarkable ode to Wisconsinites. Hannah’s ‘on the road’ style perfectly sets off the kindness, charity, hard work, and modesty of the people he meets. His use of understatement and humor is spot on. It is reassuring that those qualities that built America and made it great are still pumping iron in Wisconsin.”
“While his four decades of residence [in the Midwest] are manifested in his writing through veracity of voice, tone, and fact, it is [Steve Hannah’s] status as perpetual ‘newcomer’ that infuses these tales with a palpable sense of discovery, marvel, and wonder.”
“Dairylandia offers treasure on every page – a lovely turn of phrase, a warm laugh, a whisper of wisdom. Steve Hannah has written a beautiful, big-hearted book you won’t soon forget.”
“A marvelous book by a longtime Wisconsin journalist who writes with insight, humor, and compassion about the state and its residents.”
“Equal parts Garrison Keillor and E.B. White, with a heaping cup of wisdom and compassion. Steve Hannah captures the extraordinary in the lives of ordinary people. Powerful and inspiring.”
READ AN EXCERPT
I spent the last 11 years of my professional life as CEO of The Onion, America’s Finest News Source. Comedy—satire, specifically—was our stock in trade, but it was no laughing matter. The dozen or so comedy writers worked intensely and collaboratively. Every week each writer would come to their big headline meeting with dozens of candidates. There were about 1,200 jokes at the start of the week and, after ruthlessly dissecting one another’s work, maybe 50 made it to publication. I would sit in the writers’ room a half-dozen times a year—the CEO was never really welcome behind this particular curtain—and marvel at the kind of work and analysis that went into making something that seemed so effortlessly smart and hilarious…READ MORE.