So, as you know, I was inspired to start this series by Melanie Jones over at the Columbia Spectator. Well, happily, this idea is catching on… Check out this post on Omnivoracious, Amazon’s blog:
State by State: A Panoramic Portrait. [The authors] commissioned 50 writers for essays on the 50 states (and added an interview about that underrepresented district, Washington, D.C., with its best-known chronicler, Edward P. Jones). Inspired by the WPA guides of the ’30s Federal Writers Project, Weiland and Wilsey asked writers from Louise Erdrich and Jonathan Franzen to Anthony Bourdain and Sarah Vowell to write about the states they knew best–or, in some cases, states they’d never set foot in before.
And their inspired project has inspired a number of other stunts: our I-5 and internet neighbors at Powell’s have based their third “Out of the Book” movie on State by State, which, judging by the trailer available for viewing, looks adorable and funny. And today we’re embarking on a folly of our own: a project to choose (with help from you and some guest contributors, including many of the writers in State by State) the best books from each state…
…if you’d like to get an immediate sense of the regional distinctions that still remain in our homogenizing society, take a listen to this short clip (in which we discuss, of all things, regional distinctions in our homogenizing society), and note Matt’s clipped Minnesota notes, Sean’s mellow California tones, and my own suburban Maryland mumble.
Since they posted this, Omnivoracious has embarked on their ambitious plan to post on one state PER DAY!
Check out their first two selections:
Pretty cool! And stayed tuned for my next selection… on California!
