State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America by Matt WeilandMy review
rating: 3 of 5 stars
Someone reviewed this as being written by authors native to each state and that is not the case, which is perhaps the problem. Another problem is that you can't find 50 Dave Eggers or Susan Orleans, so you get some states with less-than-stellar (or lazy) writers. Of the states I read, Ohio and Illinois were lovely...well written, with genuine love for the state as well as facts and information. Iowa's essay (my native state) was written by someone who didn't seem to know anything about Iowa. I think he was just visiting. For instance, how could you be in Iowa and have to LEARN the difference between field corn and sweet corn? That's something Iowans are born knowing! (Just kidding, but really, come on.) Anyone at University of Iowa's writers' school surely could have written something much, much better. Michigan's essay was sweet but written by someone who had only lived there a few years of his life.
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