Going Driftless by Stephen Lyons
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.
Stephen JLyons muses on a remarkable region of the U.S. in Going Driftless: Life Lessons from the Heartland for Unraveling Times. 'The Driftless' spans a small area of southwest Wisconsin, northwest Illinois, northeast Iowa and southeast Minnesota. A distinctly unglaciated history defines certain geographic parts, and a network of streams provides variant topography. In these pages, Lyons explores that landscape and the cultural experimentation born there. The remote hills and valleys of the Driftless are uncharacteristic of the Midwest, and these steeper slopes have sheltered alternative lifestyles for decades, from the back-to-the-landers who arrived in the 1970s to naturalists, traditional and organic farmers, artists, musicians and other singular souls living there today. Over several years, Lyons visits various Driftless communities, chatting with their leaders as well as others encountered by chance. He surveys farming and dairy cooperatives, families living off the grid, small business owners, food co-ops, a Zen monastery and successful planned communities. . . .Going Driftless comprises a series of sketches of people, places and organizations, and steers clear of judgment or conclusion in favor of quiet contemplation. Lyons gently suggests near the book's end that these unobtrusive lifestyles have something to offer in unstable times. Discover: An admiring profile of the successful, low-impact communities in a little-known region of the Midwest. * Shelf Awareness *
Stephen J. Lyons is the author of A View from the Inland Northwest: Everyday Life in America (Globe Pequot) and Landscape of the Heart (Washington State University). 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, Washington Post, Salon, and High Country News. He lives in Monticello, Illinois.
| SKU | Nicht verfügbar |
| ISBN 13 | 9780762780655 |
| ISBN 10 | 0762780657 |
| Titel | Going Driftless |
| Autor | Stephen Lyons |
| Buchzustand | Nicht verfügbar |
| Bindungsart | Paperback |
| Verlag | Rowman & Littlefield |
| Erscheinungsjahr | 2015-07-01 |
| Seitenanzahl | 240 |
| Hinweis auf dem Einband | Die Abbildung des Buches dient nur Illustrationszwecken, die tatsächliche Bindung, das Cover und die Auflage können sich davon unterscheiden. |
| Hinweis | Nicht verfügbar |