Dakota Circle - Hardcover

Isern, Thomas D.

4.36

11 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0911042539 ISBN 13: 9780911042535

Publisher: North Dakota Inst for, 2000

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The author of Dakota Circle has great hopes for the Great Plains, because despite a history of human and environmental tragedy, "eventually the land has its way with people, space becomes place, and viable, even elegant patterns of culture emerge. People stand more squarely on thier own feet, they speak for themselves, they build structures that back up their words, and they relate to one another in the fashion of a community. This is a work in progress." Confident in the regional future, historian and traveler Tom Isern is free to explore the delights of regional life--from fiberglass pheasants to Montana caviar--and to invite readers of Dakota Circle along for some excursions on the true plains.

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About the Author:

Tom Isern, Professor of History at North Dakota State University, has lived all his life on the Great Plains of North America. Because his mid-life crisis began at about age nineteen, he has spent a long time thinking about what it means to live and work on the plains. He has written or co-authored five previous books about life on the plains and since 1983 has co-authored the weekly newspaper column, "Plains Folk." In the year of publication of Dakota Circle, he was named NDSU's Fargo Chamber of Commerce Distinguished Professor.

Most Americans by now are familiar with Jeff Foxworthy's satires on Southern culture. In a self-effacing style similar to telling Norwegian jokes, he goes on forever with his catalog of good-old-boy qualities, all in the "If you (fill in the blank), then you might be a Redneck" format. Now, what if we were to catalog the distinctive traits of North Dakotans in the same way? I already had been thinking about this for a while when I received a folklorish electronic communication from sources unknown headed, "You might be a North Dakotan if..." "If you define summer as three months of bad sledding," this document intones, "you might be a North Dakotan." Or, "If your kids' baseball and softball games have ever been snowed out..", Or, "If you design your Halloween costumes to fit over snowmobile suits...," then you must be from North Dakota.

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