June 1, 2020 Post #55

Monday, June 1, 2020
Quote for the day: "Isn't that uneasy peninsula between the lakes the place where all trouble that afflicts this nation start?" A New York Times editorial entitled "Oh Michigan" that railed against the sit-down strikes in 1937.


Reviews


I Have the Answer
by Kelly Fordon


These deeply felt, and very engaging short stories are propelled by sharply drawn characters who are facing a life-changing crisis, are jolted by an unexpected epiphany, or must come to terms with who they are and the life they lead. Most of the stories take place in Michigan, are exceptionally well written, and quickly ensnare the reader into the main character's life. 

Females predominate as the main characters in most stories but not all. There is the dying man who suffers from dementia. The singular memory that haunts him is not recovering the body of his buddy who died beside him in a Vietnam jungle. Other stories follow a widow who can't deal with her husband's death and is dragged by a therapist friend to a strange group therapy with surprising results. There is the shy boy who wakes up one morning and discovers an imaginary third arm growing out of his body that no one else can see except for a pit bull that's so mean he's named the Assassin. And there is the husband literally consigned to the dog house with unexpected ramifications. 

The author has a fine touch for breathing life into her characters and making their lives meaningful and real. Fordon also has a fine sense of humor that crops up in the most unexpected places. After reading only a few of the stories I began to look forward to the conclusion of each of the remaining stories because Fordon has a talent for both surprising readers with clever and memorable last sentences. This is a winning collection of fine short stories.
I Have the Answer: Stories by Kelly Fordon. Wayne State University Press, 2020, $18.99 pb. https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/i-have-answer.



The Sleeping Bears of Leelanau County
by Paul Wcisel

Those familiar with the popular legend accounting for the presence of the Sleeping Bear Dunes and the Manitou Islands just offshore may consider first-time author Paul Wcisel quilty of heresy after reading his novella. If so, readers will also find it an entertaining, guilty pleasure. 

In Wcisel's rewriting of the legend, there is a group of people in Leelanau County who are born with the ability to change into bears at will. The group knows they are an ancient clan who came to the Leelanau area in the prehistoric past. Their arrival in Michigan was accomplished by a perilous journey across Lake Michigan and is the origin of the Sleeping Bear Dunes creation legend not the popular story of the mother bear and her two cubs attempt to swim across Lake Michigan. 

Outwardly, the members of the clan lead apparently ordinary lives as humans but harbor a special connection with nature, the spirit world, and preserving the environment. The story of the clan and their extraordinary ability is told through the experiences of Max. He was a lost member of the clan living in the U.P. and unaware of his gift when he was discovered by a clan member and introduced to his double life. Max leaves the Upper Peninsula for the Leelanau Peninsula to meet and learn more about his clan. The author doesn't explain how this euphoric transformation from human to bear and back to human works but the members of the clan aren't sure either. They just take their gift for granted and after a few pages so does the reader.

Within this rewriting of the Sleeping Bear Dunes legend is a strong environmental message, a deadly struggle to save a pristine area from fast-buck developers, and a tour of what I'm guessing are the author's favorite microbreweries and eateries in the Traverse City and Leelanau County area. At 130 pages this a quick and enjoyable read set in one of Michigan's most beautiful and magical natural attractions.

The Sleeping Bears of Leelanau County by Paul Wcisel. Independently Published, 2019,  $14.99 pb.




Eden Waits
by Maryka Biaggio

Ah, Utopias they sound so sensible, practical, and doable on paper yet often prove unworkable, unfair, and un-utopian in practice. This novel is based on the true story of the utopian community Hiawatha Colony established in the U.P. near Manistique in the 1890s. The author, a former psychology professor, is the great, great, great-granddaughter of  Elizabeth and Abraham Byers, the founders of Hiawatha Colony.

The Byers homesteaded a large tract of land a few miles from Manistique and encouraged family members to homestead adjoining acres which many did. Abraham, at 65, was not only the leader of the family but also served as its pastor. It proved hard to wrest a living from the rugged wilderness and Abraham preached cooperation and working for common goals. Some of the men worked at the Manistique Lumber Company where the pay was poor and the work was dangerous. The author does a fine job of describing the daily toil of the homesteaders and how precariously thin was the line between success and failure in homesteading in the U.P. 

When Abraham reads Walter Mill's book "The Product Sharing Village" it seemed the answer to his prayers. Mill envisions a community in which landholders deeded their land to the village, and either worked for the community clearing fields and planting crops while others built a sawmill and constructed homes for new arrivals. Product sharing even meant that a woman making jam from berries she picked had to give the jam to the community. Those who worked outside the community at the Manistique Lumber Company turned their earnings over to the community. Outsiders were charged membership fees. In return members of the community shared equally. Small houses were built for new members and all food was shared equally. Abraham corresponded with Mill and the author of The Product Sharing Village came to live in Hiawatha Colony and was named president.

Sharing equally, which might make sense on paper soon began to seem unfair and arbitrary in practice. Instead of everyone sharing equally it became apparent that a person's standing in the community heavily influenced the size of their share. Dissent and the rise of authoritarian rule soon threatened the existence of the colony. Biaggio takes the reader inside the Hiawatha Colony as seen by both the dissenters and supporters. Even the minor characters are fully rounded and add to both a broader and deeper portrait of the community and a realistic portrayal of the sociological working of such a community. Even Abraham and Elizabeth strongly disagree with each other on the merits and faults of the colony and it becomes a wedge between a once very close couple.

This novel is a well written, intimate, and realistic examination of the rise and fall of a utopian community and a fascinating glimpse into a rarely examined or written about corner of Michigan history. 

Eden Waits byMaryka Biaggio. Millford House Press, 2019, $16.95 pb.

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 https://www.wsupress.wayne.edu/books/detail/i-have-answer.
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