In this paperback original, a stable of fresh stories by award-winning writer Will Weaver (Full Service and Barns of Minnesota) are complemented by a hand-picked selection of favorites from his original collection, A Gravestone Made of Wheat, to offer a fresh, vivid portrait of the changing midwestern landscape. New highlights include “Blaze of Glory,” an enchanting tale of an RV road trip and a senior couple’s “last time”; “The Trapper,” the story of a hard split between an old trapper and a younger female environmentalist; and “The Last Farmer,” the capstone story of this elegant collection that examines the discovery by a high-tech farmer of the history of the old houses on his land. Fourteen stories in all portray the bountiful and whimsical and cruel human spirit and the swirling transformation of America’s heartland.
Will Weaver grew up in northern Minnesota on a dairy farm. The landscape of farm and small town life figures strongly in much of his writing. He has gained a national audience for his unflinching realism, and for what one reviewer called ". . . the humanity and decency that runs through all of Weaver's work" ( St. Paul Pioneer Press).
His short story collection A GRAVESTONE MADE OF WHEAT was a New York Times "notable book." His newest book is a memoir, THE LAST HUNTER: AN AMERICAN FAMILY ALBUM, which one reviewer wrote "...should have been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize."
Several of his works have been adapted for radio, stage and film. SWEET LAND, an independent feature film adaptation of his story "Gravestone Made of Wheat", and starring Ned Beatty, premiered in October of 2006. His first adult novel, RED EARTH, WHITE EARTH was made into a CBS television movie.
Also known for his young adult fiction, Weaver's series STRIKING OUT, FARM TEAM and HARD BALL has a lasting place in school libraries across the country. MEMORY BOY, a post-apocalyptic novel based on environmental collapse, is widely used across the curriculum in junior and senior high schools. A sequel, THE SURVIVORS, and is due out in January 2012 from HarperCollins.
Other young adult novels include CLAWS, set in northeastern Minnesota's Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and featuring outdoor survival with a strong family back-story. His FULL SERVICE won starred reviews from Kirkus and Horn Books for its focus on a young man struggling with matters of religious faith and doubt. DEFECT is a novel about a teenager born with a miraculous birth abnormality, and his struggle to fit in (or not).
As an author, Mr. Weaver is particularly concerned with youth literacy and young men in particular. His new Motornovel Series is pitched toward teens who love motorsports but are not wild about English classes. SATURDAY NIGHT DIRT and its sequel, SUPER STOCK ROOKIE (2009) focus on dirt track stock car racing. The series starts with a close focus on a small town speedway and a diverse cast characters who come there, for different reasons, on Saturday nights. CHECKERED FLAG CHEATER is the latest in this popular series. Reviewed on "Good Morning America," the Motornovels were described as "great teen reads, and not just for boys."
An avid outdoorsman and a would-be piano player, Will Weaver lives with his wife on the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota.
