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The Midwest Quarterly: A Journal of Contemporary Thought

Contents

ARTICLES 

Garrison Keillor's Serious Humor: Satire in Lake Wobegon Days  

Of Sport, State, and Stasi: Socialism with an Un-Beautiful Face 

The Exit of a Generation: the 'Whatever" Philosophy 

John Winthrop: Magistrate, Minister, Merchant 

Of Anglo-Saxons and Revisionists: A New Interpretation of the French Revolution Emerges  

Reinterpreting Myths: The Wilderness and the Indian in Thoreau's Maine Woods 

POEMS 

Suggestions in Black & White 

Helen Keller 

The Limits of Metaphor 

More Hours Beneath Pedernal 

Sand Creek 

At the Edge 

Rosh Hodesh 

Breakfast in Baja 

Only Each Other 

The House on 19th Street 

At The Shore Of The Great Lake Michigan I Came Upon The Feet Of Egon Schiele In The Moonlight 

Arachnotations  

surrealist in time  

Wolves Run Together 

Chant 

REVIEWS 

Benjamin R. Barber; Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World 

Peter Sacks; Generation X Goes To College: An Eye-Opening Account of Teaching in Postmodern America 

Hans Magnus Enzensberger; Kiosk 

Abstract

BOB J. FRY beckons readers to look beyond the friendly, folksy Garrison Keillor so many have seen in Lake Wobegon Days to glimpse the satire, both gentle and biting, that Keillor offers. Professor of English at Texas Christian University, editor of a book of critical essays on John Dryden's satire, Mac Flecknoe, and author of articles which have appeared in a number of journals, he has twice received teaching awards during his thirty years at TCU, including most recently the Piper Professor Award in 1994 given to just ten Texas educators annually honoring significant contributions in teaching.

JOHN G. RODDEN writes of the sacrifice one would-be athlete endured for success, the yearnings of young love, and youthful rebellion, but in the context of Communist East Germany those sacrifices were much more than training, missing out on childhood, and the ups and downs of competition, when the reasons for doing them or not doing them and the secret police file which recorded those moments meant life was always being lived on several planes. Adjunct Professor of Speech Communication at the University of Texas-Austin, Rodden is author of two books, Repainting the Little Red Schoolhouse: A History of East German Education (Oxford) and Textbook Reds: Ideology and National Self-Legitimation in East German Schoolbooks (Nebraska), and two previous essays in Midwest Quarterly, one a year ago on Germany's only Jewish high school and a recent discussion of Friedrich Niewche's place in the newly reunified Germany.

PRISCILLA ATKINS lives and writes in Holland, Michigan.

MARGUERITE GUZMAN BOUV ARD, Wellesley, Massachusetts, is the author of three books and two chapbooks of poetry, including the prize-winning Journeys Over Water. Her poetry and essays have been widely anthologized, and she is also the author of several books of nonfiction. She is a Resident Scholar at Brandeis University. Her poetry has appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

RICK CANNON has published poetry in Amelia, The Iowa Review, Nimrod, and numerous other journals. On three occasions, his work has received significant recognition, including in 1995 an Individual Artist's Award and Grant in Poetry from the Maryland State Arts Council. He teaches at Gonzaga College and at Trinity College in Washington, D. C., and lives in Silver Spring, Maryland. His poetry has appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

CAROL HAMILTON, Midwest City, Oklahoma, is a storyteller and professor of creative writing at the University of Central Oklahoma. She has been poet laureate of Oklahoma since January, 1995. Her poems have appeared recently in Amelia, Cape Rock, Chariton Review, and numerous other journals. Her poems have appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

WILLIAM KLOEFKORN has two new books appearing soon, Fielding Imaginary Grounders and Welcome to Carlos. His poems have appeared recently in Harper's, Puerto del Sol, Prairie Schooner, and The Laurel Review. He continues to live and write in Lincoln, Nebraska. His poems have appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

ELVA LAUTER, besides writing poetry, is also a painter and has had various exhibits throughout southern California. She often writes about her extensive travels in poetry and articles. She lives in Los Angeles.

LYN LIFSHIN, Vienna, Virginia, is perhaps the most widely published contemporary American poet. She has recently contracted with Black Sparrow Press to publish her work almost exclusively. Her poems have appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

PETER LUDWIN has published poetry in such journals as Lullwater Review, California Quarterly, Chaminade Literary Review, and Whiskey Island Magazine. He lives in Seattle, Washington, where he does counseling work and occasionally teaches the autoharp. His poetry has appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

WALT MCDONALD, Lubbock, Texas, has published fifteen collections of poetry and a book of fiction. His sixteenth collection, Blessings the Body Gave, is forthcoming from Ohio State University Press. Three of his books have won Western Heritage Awards from the National Cowboy Hall of Fame. His poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, The Atlantic, The Kenyon Review, The Nation, New York Review of Books, The Paris Review, Poetry, and numerous prestigious journals. His poetry has also appeared previously in the The Midwest Quarterly.

MARK SANDERS is a widely published poet. He was founder and editor of Sandhills Press and currently edits Hurakan and a series of chapbooks under the general title of Main-Traveled Roads. His first full-length collection of poetry is Before We Lost Our Ways. His poems, stories, and essays have been published in the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, and Australia. He lives and writes in Texas City, Texas. His poetry has appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

STEVEN SHERRILL, Highland Park, Illinois, has published fiction and poetry in Florida Review, Georgia Review, Black Warrior Review, Painted Bride Quarterly, and other journals. James Tate selected one of his poems for Best American Poetry of 1997.

MICHAEL SPRING works as a book buyer in a used bookstore in Corvallis, Oregon. His poetry has appeared in several journals, including Rain City Review, Chiron Review, and Talus.

LAUREN SMITH, Champaign, Illinois, has published poetry in The Beloit Poetry Journal, Rhino, Poetry Motel, The Madison Review, and other journals. She has edited two collections of essays on intercultural families. Her poetry has appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

SUSAN TERRIS, San Francisco, California, has published two collections of poetry, the most recent of which is Curved Space (La Jolla Press, 1998). Her poems have appeared in numerous journals, including Ploughshares, Poetry Northwest, Nimrod, and in several anthologies, including The Anthology of Magazine Verse & Anthology of American Poetry for 1997. Her poems have also appeared previously in The Midwest Quarterly.

BOB VANCE has published poems in The Beloit Poetry Journal, Orbis, Minnesota Review, and other journals. He lives and writes ("and camps and watches the water") in northern Michigan, near Petoskey.

The notion of characterizing particular generations is not a new phenomenon. The "good years" of pre-World War I, those who roared in the Twenties or phoenixes who sought security after the Thirties, the rock 'n' roll Fifties (or were they Beats or gray flannel), and all the rest, we have been there before. Generation X, as MARTINE DELVAUX suggests, means many different things to those who would define it (or be it), but some day soon, just as the previous generation of the Sixties and Seventies has now taken center stage, so this one, for good or "whatever," will as well. Teaching in the Department of Literary Studies of the University of Quebec in Montreal, Delvaux has published several articles on the intersection of culture and literature.

MARK W. CRILLY contends that John Winthrop's business acumen, quite as much as his religious zeal and theological arguments, propelled him to take over the Massachusetts Bay Company, lead the expedition which firmly established the colony's presence in New England, and guide it during its early years. Presently instructor of English at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, he is a scholar of the Irish Renaissance and has presented papers at numerous scholarly conferences. He is currently writing a screenplay on John Winthrop.

WAYNE HANLEY traces the historiography of the French Revolution, a subject important in itself and important also to those who are concerned with the development of modem democracy and with western society. Assistant Director of the South-Central Regional Professional Development Center and Adjunct Professor of History at the University of Missouri-Roulla, Hanley has previously published essays on James Fenimore Cooper and Citizen Kane, poems, and rules for games.

To those who wish to reconnect with nature, Herny David Thoreau's sojourn to Walden Pond and the Maine Woods provides the measure by which to define one's achievement. JAMES A. PAPA, Jr., offers convincing evidence that neither lived up to this ideal even in Thoreau's time. Papa, currently Assistant Professor of English at York College of the City University of New York, has published an article on a related topic, "The Paradox of Perception: Science and Narrative in Walden and Pilgrim at Tinker Creek," as well as an essay on Edward Abbey, poetry, creative non-fiction, and a forthcoming essay on natural history.

MARK J. PETERSON is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Pittsburg State University. Political Communication identified his dissertation as one of the five most noteworthy in the field for 1995, and an article summarizing his results, "Protect Politics, the Media, and Public and Elite Opinion During the Vietman War," appeared in its July-September 1996 issue.

RONALD CHARLES EPSTEIN, a Canadian freelance writer, has contributed reviews and verse to numerous publications. His most recent contributions have been published in Martyrdom and Resistance and Rattle. He lives in Toronto.

The Board of Editors is pleased to announce two additions.

Thomas M. Box is an Associate Professor of Management teaching courses in such topics as Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. His research interests in strategy, entrepreneurship, and pedagogy, have produced many scholarly articles, books, and technical reports. Prior to teaching, Dr. Box was an executive in the steel industry, and he has been a consultant for such clients as the Department of Defense, the States of Texas and Oklahoma, and the Ford Motor Company.

Nancy Durbin is an Assistant Professor of French whose specialty is 18th-century French literature. Dr. Durbin's scholarly interests include early fiction and the rise of the novel, female subjectivity and the portrayal of female characters in fiction, the rise of the bourgeoisie and related political and social changes, early-modern print culture and issues relating to authorship and publishing, and autobiography.

This is also the occasion to thank Robert L. Sheverbush for his dedicated service to this journal. His insightful comments will be missed.

Special Great Plains Poetry Issue

Poets currently living in or having strong creative connections to the Great Plains states (Colorado, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, or Wyoming) are invited to submit their work for a special Summer 1999 issue of the Midwest Quarterly, Poets of the Great Plains. For submission guidelines, write to Stephen Meats, Poetry Editor, or e-mail him at [email protected]. Submission deadline is March 1, 1999.

ANNOUNCING THE ANNUAL VICTOR J. EMMETT, JR., MEMORIAL PRIZE AND LECTURE

The editors of The Midwest Quarterly invite submission of articles on any literary topic, but preferably on Victorian or Modem British Literature, Literary Criticism, or the Teaching of Literature, to be considered for publication in The Midwest Quarterly and for the annual Emmett Memorial Prize. The winning author will receive an honorarium and will be invited to Pittsburg State University to deliver the annual Emmett Memorial Lecture. This award is given by the Emmett family in memory of the late Victor J. Emmett, Jr., who was for many years Professor of English at Pittsburg State University and this journal's Editor-in-Chief.

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In accordance with database agreements, the full text of the issue is not available for download. Pittsburg State Digital Commons has only provided the front matter for author and publication information.

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