6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Uplifting Memories, November 21, 2001
By A Customer
This review is from: Minnesota Memories (Paperback)
You'll be charmed by the North Star memories these 2 ladies evoke of their lives in Minnesota in the '50's. How I had forgotten the polio epidemic, the love-affair with Elvis most of us had, the local swimming holes, and the scrap books I kept but now can't find. I laughed, I cried, and I sent in my own submission to their upcoming Vol. II because I too was introduced to my first theatrical performance at the high school gym when basketball nets served to hold spot lights and the velvet curtain was strung between them. Their writing even captures the speech patterns I wanted to lose, but my Minnesota accent still gives me away. Their guest writers capture memories that my family holds dear--the local church pageant, the one-room schoolhouse that educated most of my family, and the centennial parade with its primite floats and antique cars that stole our hearts and made us yearn for those by-gone years of the simple life, valued time with family, and Christian values that are never appreciated till later in life. This is a fun read, one that all Midwesterners can identify with and appreciate.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
This book is a visit back home, September 5, 2001
This review is from: Minnesota Memories (Paperback)
Minnesota Memories is the kind of book you finish at three in the morning and wish you had more chapters yet to read. It evokes thoughts of the quirkiness in Minnesota practices--calling casseroles hot dishes, referring to going to any of Minnesota's l0, 000 lakes as "going to THE Lake", or referring to the noon meal as dinner and the six p.m. meal as supper. Remember when adventure was having the family sit down for supper at
seven?
Authors Joan Graham and Kathy Megyeri, both native Minnesotans, recall some of their favorite tales of growing up in the North Star state. The book brings forth pure joy. It is clean, totally charming, and recalls a Minnesota where hard work, innocence--or not getting caught-- and having a little fun was the way to go. The descriptions of the localities, the stories, the lifestyles and even the pictures of ancestors, proms, school and First Communions bring back memories and smiles.
Growing up in Minnesota in the 50's, 60's and 70's meant that what happened in your house, stayed in your house. You learned to keep your mouth closed and talked about politics, the price of strawberries or the weather. As we were growing up, we all thought we were the only ones who had strange relatives, wanted to juggle on the Johnny Carson Show or were fearful that someone would find out we were different.
Minnesota Memories authors share their own family practices and stories, and guess what? The same things that were shushed in our houses, also happened in the authors' homes. As you cuddle in a soft chair to read the stories, you'll remember long forgotten thoughts and memories of life in Minnesota.
One particularly endearing tale tells of Joan Graham mother who had been raised during the Depression and had learned to live with the frugality of many of our parents. She longed for something utterly beautiful and regal. Finally, she was able to send away for an elegant eight place setting of Bavarian china. For almost twenty-five years the treasured china was never used, however...
The writing style is honest and freshly straightforward. You find yourself right there in the room with the story teller. You put the book down and the events stay with you and mingle with your own past memories. This is one sweet little book that feels like a visit back home to Minnesota--or to any state that was once home. This is one book not to miss.
Marilyn Mikulewicz Baranski
Minnesota native--thirty years removed
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Minnesota True Stories with Humor, August 31, 2001
This review is from: Minnesota Memories (Paperback)
The book is a collection of brief true stories of incidents from the lives of several Minnesota writers. Some are funny, some are sad, and many of them brought back memories for me of people and places I knew growing up in Winona, Minnesota. The first story, named "Toyota City," plays on mistaken identity. Another, "Mother's Good Bavarian China" portrays that peculiar trait of saving our best for a time that never comes. "Shop til You Drop" recreates the ambiance of the old downtown many small town Minnesotans knew before we all started going to malls. I enjoyed the book immensely, it's an easy, humorous, and gratifying read.
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