The Book Nook
On Wisconsin
It’s always a pleasure to offer reading suggestions with a Wisconsin theme or connection and today’s column will feature several. There will still be a featured book, but with an abbreviated review, and we’ll lead off with that.
Steven Wright offers a blistering debut with “The Coyotes of Carthage”, which was published in 2020. This political suspense pulls no punches and is rich in dark comedy. The focus is on a successful political consultant, Andre Ross, aka “Dre”, whose aggressive tactics in a recent campaign turned a sure win into an embarrassing loss. His boss is furious and Dre realizes how far he’s fallen when he’s banished to a backwoods town with a bare-bones budget and one goal: introduce a ballot initiative and convince voters to back it. He’s under the company’s microscope and needs a win to keep his job.
From the beginning, the project is rife with problems. He knows how to get the initiative started but, as a non-resident, he’s legally barred from doing it himself. That means finding someone willing to be the face of the campaign who can also sway voters. Another difficulty is putting the right spin on the proposal while keeping voters ignorant of the outcome.
As he deals with unanticipated problems, he races time to fight his way back into the company’s good graces. It doesn’t help that he’s battling internal demons while managing major setbacks with locals and staff alike.
In addition to providing eye-opening facts about the political process, it also lets readers peer into the soul of a conflicted protagonist, helping them discover the forces that shaped Dre’s choices and attitude. Those who lean towards cynicism may find their worst fears confirmed, but in an educational and entertaining way. This story is filled with topical issues along with adult situations and language. Political junkies and those who like biting humor or thrillers with a bit of mystery will find much to enjoy in this well-written, character-driven novel.
Stephen Wright is a clinical associate professor at the UW-Madison Law School, where he codirects the Wisconsin Innocence Project. He’s a former trial attorney in the Voting Section of the U.S. Dept. of Justice and draws on his background to provide excellent, if disturbing, insights into American politics.
And from Wright’s political voice we turn to someone for whom voice has been a vocation. Veronica Rueckert attended the UW-Madison where she trained as an opera singer. She was an announcer at Wisconsin Public Radio and went on to produce the network’s Peabody Award-winning nationally syndicated “To the Best of Our Knowledge” which featured some of her essays.
Later she launched a voice coaching and consulting business with emphasis on helping women. This inspired her to write “Outspoken: Why Women’s Voices Get Silenced and How to Set Them Free”. This informative non-fiction is packed with tips on breathing, how to overcome stage fright, and how to identify speech patterns such as vocal frying and hedging. Any woman who fears public speaking or wants to be taken seriously when talking will find valuable information here. For fans of WPR who miss her voice, I’d recommend they get the audio version, which is narrated by the author.
History buffs or anyone keen to learn more about our state should look into “The Wisconsin Story: 150 People, Places and Turning Points that Shaped the Badger State” by Dennis McCann. Readers can learn about Robert and Belle La Follette, the 1960s campus protests, the construction of the territorial Capitol in Madison in 1837 and much more. There are fun facts about the “anti-corset” campaign and why a cow was milked on an airplane.
Dennis McCann is a longtime Wisconsin native who explored many areas of the Badger State between 1983-2007 as a farm writer for the Milwaukee Journal. He definitely has a feel for our state and has the admirably ability to turn complex subjects into brief, understandable stories and is currently a freelance writer based in Bayfield.
Sports lovers may like reading about the Brewers through the eyes of a fan: Chris Zantow. He was a longtime corporate writer of training materials who took three years to write “Building the Brewers: Bud Selig and the Return of Major League Baseball to Milwaukee”. The book was published just months before the Brewer’s 50th anniversary season and focuses mainly on Selig’s long tenure from 1992-2015 as acting commissioner then commissioner of baseball. Throughout is a backstory about Milwaukee’s rich baseball history filled with information on the various owners, the court battles over franchises and a brief history of the Seattle Pilots. This labor of love is packed with tons of information.
From baseball we turn to boats, which was the transportation of choice for John Hildebrand. He found a way to rediscover Wisconsin by traveling much of the state. His conscious decision to avoid all big cities took him instead through smaller towns along what he calls “Round River” – a clockwise trail that includes the Chippewa, Mississippi, Wisconsin, Fox, Bad Bois, Brule and St. Croix Rivers along with Lake Pepin. Along the way he shares stories and thoughts about how waterways are one thing that connects us.
Hildebrand is a professor at the UW-Eau Claire and has published several books. Awards include a Minnesota Book Award, and a Banta Award from the Wisconsin Library Association, among others. His essays and articles have appeared in Outside magazine and Harper’s.
Finally, there are many wonderful Wisconsin authors with book s for everyone from babies on up. Staff at libraries and bookstores can help with finding what you need. Happy reading!
