A Guide to Midwestern Conversation - Hardcover

Phillips, Taylor Kay

 
9781984861337: A Guide to Midwestern Conversation
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 1984861336 ISBN 13: 9781984861337
Verlag: Ten Speed Press, 2023

Inhaltsangabe

Learn (and love) the language of the landlocked in this bitingly funny illustrated guide to the common phrases and sentiments of the American Heartland, from the author of the McSweeney’s series “A Guide to Midwestern Conversation.”

If you end an evening by slapping your thighs and saying, “Welp, I’ll go ahead and get outta your hair,” then you don’t need this guide, but you sure as heck might like it. Full of common Midwestern phrases (and what they really mean behind the friendly facade), A Guide to Midwestern Conversation is an affectionate, self-deprecating look at the language of a people long defined by their kindness and reduced to their voting patterns. Written by born-and-bred Midwesterner Taylor Kay Phillips, it’s a wink, a hug, and a firm handshake (with eye contact) to the millions of Americans who say soda and pop interchangeably and grew up doing tornado drills in school.

Discover Midwestern conversational staples like:

  • How to announce that you hate something beyond comprehension (“I didn’t really care for it”) 
  • What counts as “a short drive” (less than eight hours) 
  • Sports talk (starts early, doesn’t end till we’re six feet under)
  • Describing the ultimate dream home (“It’s got a finished basement”)
  • An ode to the Garage Fridge

Including an array of guides, tips, and profiles of all the states included, A Guide to Midwestern Conversation is guaranteed to make Midwesterners (and their friends) laugh out loud, nod their heads, and ask if “anyone needs anything real quick while I’m up.”

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Taylor Kay Phillips is an Emmy-Award winning writer and comedian originally from Kansas City, Missouri. She currently works for Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on HBO. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Reductress among others. She lives in Harlem with her husband and three coffee makers.

Jovaney Hollingsworth grew up in the Bahamas but often visited his grandparents in Michigan, where he loved the iconic nostalgia of the Midwest. Eventually moving to Minnesota, Jovaney combined this American iconography with the bright Caribbean color palette and turned it into a successful career as a graphic designer and illustrator.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

Introduction


Well, hey there!

Come on in, sit down. Can I getcha anything? A coffee? Glass of wine? Bagel bites from the garage fridge? You sure? Okay, well, you just let me know.

Welcome to A Guide to Midwestern Conversation, a manual to and a road trip through the twelve states designated as “The Midwest” by the Encyclopaedia Britannica, New World Encyclopedia, United States Census Bureau, and most dads. Those states are, in alphabetical order (well, almost; I’m starting with my home state but, I promise, this is the only time I’ll play favorites): Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

I wanted to get that out of the way first, because sometimes people like to debate what “counts” as the Midwest, and to be honest with you, that whole conflict isn’t really my thing.

While “The Midwest” is a certain defined geographical region (not debatable within this book), a “Midwesterner” can live, visit, and squeeze right past ya anywhere in the world! We’re united by much more than the many (many!) acres of land that divide us. The similarities in the way we talk, give directions, and cover our necks during tornado drills bind us together almost as much as our love of puppy chow.

It’s not really fair to call the Midwest “misunderstood” because (1) I think we Midwesterners understand our deal pretty gosh darn well, and (2) I don’t think anyone else (ahem, Coasties) has tried hard enough to even get it wrong. But one thing that I think folks get a little bit twisted is the idea of “Midwestern Nice.” Some people characterize it as being passive-aggressive, intimating that we’re as mean as everyone else but we just do it with a smile. Negativity with a side of deep-fried disingenuousness, if you will. Others come down on the opposite side, claiming that Midwestern Nice is a form of superhuman kindness and hospitality. That we, as a species, are just so deeply nice, we are incapable of feeling anger or displeasure, let alone of expressing it.

Ope, surprise! It’s neither. The truth, like us, is somewhere in the middle.

Midwestern conversation is a language all its own. Of course, we feel the full range of human emotions (duh!?) and get as frustrated or angry or judgmental as anybody else. It’s simply that the way we communicate those feelings is specific to us, our upbringing, and our neighbors. Saying “I didn’t really care for it” isn’t a Midwestern euphemism for “The odiousness of what I just witnessed is all-consuming, and I will not rest until my leisure time is avenged”; it’s just the way we say it! It isn’t two-faced any more than “bonjour” is a two-faced way of communicating “hello.”

At the same time, the Midwestern attitude toward others is something special. We do go out of our way for our neighbors and our guests. We do place a premium on making folks feel welcome and taken care of. We do have an extra cooler in the back of the Camry if ya need it for your trip to the lake; seriously, just let us know and we’ll go right out and grab it for ya.

All this to say that this guide is about as far from laughing at the Midwest as you can get. It’s laughing with, for, and because of the millions of wonderful people who make up the heart of this country—and the entirety of the Culver’s rewards program. I want this guide to clarify your conversations. To start conversations. I want you and your friends to read a few pages out loud and then have to put the book down, next to the Tater–Tot casserole, while you share stories about which friend’s finished basement was the best for playing truth-or-dare.

Whether you’re looking to become a Midwesterner yourself, trying to communicate better with a middle-American loved one, preparing for a trip to the heartland (bring a jacket!), or just brushing up on your hometown lingo, I hope this book feels like a warm hug and a firm handshake (with eye contact).

This is A Guide to Midwestern Conversation.

Take off your coat and stay a while. 

Taylor

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Verlag
Ten Speed Press
Erscheinungsdatum
2023
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
1984861336
ISBN 13 
9781984861337
Einband
Gebundene Ausgabe
Anzahl der Seiten
144
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Ten Speed Press
https://crownpublishing.com/

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