Weird Minnesota


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Minnesota Curiosities


Book Description

Your round-trip ticket to the wildest, wackiest, most outrageous people, places, and things the North Star State has to offer! Visit an art gallery of underground graffiti; an eight-story-tall Iron Man sculpture; and some beautifully designed, no-real-name-for-them architectural oddities. Meet an artistic, creature-creating welder; a fast-thinking curator of a fishing museum; and a cow-figurine-collecting newspaper editor. Discover the fun of constructing a bookcase-turned coffin for who-knows-when; traveling an uphill road that goes downhill; and drinking wiggly-army-worm wine—it’ll make your head spin. Whether you’re a born-and-raised Minnesotan or a recent transplant, authors Russ Ringsak and Denise Remick will have you laughing out loud as they introduce you to the neighbors you never knew you had and take you to places you never knew existed—right in your own backyard!




Backroads of Minnesota


Book Description

This updated 2nd edition of the popular Backroads of Minnesota (2002) comes in a new portable size, making it easy to tote in your car and head out to a new destination in beautiful Minnesota. Have you driven on the Gunflint and Arrowhead trails? Have you circled the whole of Mille Lacs? Have you gone birding on the western prairies, or wound around the bluffs of the Mississippi River from Red Wing to the Iowa border? Have you experienced the forgotten corners of the Twin Cities metro area? Backroads of Minnesota takes you on 31 routes covering all corners of the Land of 10,000 Lakes: routes that lead you to the state’s most scenic natural areas and sites that capture the state’s colorful history. Whether you’re planning a day trip or a weekend getaway, Backroads of Minnesota will lead you deep into the soul of the state, beyond the common tourist attractions.




Weird Wisconsin


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Let's Be Weird Together


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Weird meets weird—and the rest is history! This is a book about weird couples and the tiny two-person universes they create. It’s about accidentally wearing the exact same outfit. It’s about made-up songs. It’s about your rules for the thermostat. It’s about breakfast rituals, and funny nicknames, and long hugs, and that voice you pretend the cat has. If you’re half of a weird couple, or if you have a favorite weird couple, or if you just love love, this book is for you. Includes 1 sheet of temporary tattoos!




Al Franken, Giant of the Senate


Book Description

From Senator Al Franken - #1 bestselling author and beloved SNL alum -- comes the story of an award-winning comedian who decided to run for office and then discovered why award-winning comedians tend not to do that. "Flips the classic born-in-a-shack rise to political office tale on its head. I skipped meals to read this book - also unusual - because every page was funny. It made me deliriously happy." -- Louise Erdrich, The New York Times This is a book about an unlikely campaign that had an even more improbable ending: the closest outcome in history and an unprecedented eight-month recount saga, which is pretty funny in retrospect. It's a book about what happens when the nation's foremost progressive satirist gets a chance to serve in the United States Senate and, defying the low expectations of the pundit class, actually turns out to be good at it. It's a book about our deeply polarized, frequently depressing, occasionally inspiring political culture, written from inside the belly of the beast. In this candid personal memoir, the honorable gentleman from Minnesota takes his army of loyal fans along with him from Saturday Night Live to the campaign trail, inside the halls of Congress, and behind the scenes of some of the most dramatic and/or hilarious moments of his new career in politics. Has Al Franken become a true Giant of the Senate? Franken asks readers to decide for themselves.




Poised to Kill


Book Description

Extortionists present corporate executive Hal Dwyer with a nightmarish dilemma: turn over top secret anti-missile software from his defense contractor employer, or forfeit the life of his twelve-year-old daughter. To thwart the kidnappers, Dwyer sets out on a quest for answers that takes him from the boardrooms of southern California to the wilds of northern Minnesota. As he seeks to unravel the plot that threatens to destroy his family and his country, Dwyer confronts a ruthless foreign tycoon, a treacherous corporate CEO, and a new, deadlier breed of terrorists, who are determined to turn America's defenses and freedoms against itself.




Roadside America


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A trivia-filled odyssey across America that tells the reader, for example, where to see the world's largest twine ball and how to locate the Lawrence Welk museum.




Sparked


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Reflections on the murder of George Floyd and the uprisings that followed and on racism in Minnesota, as told by current and former residents of the state. On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by Minneapolis police officers, sparking months of unrest at home and around the world. As millions took to the streets to express their outrage and speak out against systemic racism, injustice, and institutionalized violence, the city of Minneapolis and its residents were deeply shaken. For many, George Floyd's murder and the ensuing uprisings shattered the city's reputation for progressive ideals and a high quality of life. For many others, the incident simply caught on camera a representation of the harsh realities and paradoxes that they have been living with for generations. In the words of Jasmine Mitchell, "the 'Minnesota nice' comforts and illusionary progressiveness resides upon the ignoring of White racial terrorism and fears of Blackness, brown immigrants, and resistance to White supremacy." Sparked brings together the perspectives of social scientists, professors, and other academics who work or have worked in Minnesota. The essays present reflections on racial dynamics in the Twin Cities and the intersection of the wonderful and wretched sides of that existence, revealing deep complexities, ingrained inequities, and diverse personal experiences.




Minnesota Trivia Don'tcha Know!


Book Description

This book features the fascinating, funny and strange side of Minnesota, in small blocks of text, with accompanying photographs.