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56th out of 240 books
—
150 voters
Staggerford
by
Jon Hassler
"A writer good enough to restore your faith in fiction."
THE NEW YORK TIMES
It is only a week in the life of a 35-year old bachelor school teacher in a small Minnesota town. But it is an extraodinary week, filled with the poetry of living, the sweetness of expectation, and the glory of surprise that can change a life forever....
"Absolutely smashing....An altogether successfu...more
THE NEW YORK TIMES
It is only a week in the life of a 35-year old bachelor school teacher in a small Minnesota town. But it is an extraodinary week, filled with the poetry of living, the sweetness of expectation, and the glory of surprise that can change a life forever....
"Absolutely smashing....An altogether successfu...more
Paperback, 0 pages
Published
June 23rd 1997
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1977)
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Somewhere North of the Twin Cities and probably not too far from Lake Wobegone is John Hassler’s fictitious town of Staggerford, Minn.
At the center of Staggerford is one Miles Pruitt, a thirty-something, overweight school teacher. He’s also one of the better and more believable characters I’ve come across in some time. Pruitt is a live-and-let-live sort who rents a room in town, laments the loss of his childhood love to his older brother, and is currently in love with his boss’s wife. But what c...more
At the center of Staggerford is one Miles Pruitt, a thirty-something, overweight school teacher. He’s also one of the better and more believable characters I’ve come across in some time. Pruitt is a live-and-let-live sort who rents a room in town, laments the loss of his childhood love to his older brother, and is currently in love with his boss’s wife. But what c...more
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My rating is actually 4.5 of 5 stars.
This is a very slow moving, amusing, readable, and re-readable piece. Through Hassler’s lovely prose and storytelling prowess, the book reels you in until you simply can’t put it down. Not only do the characters have excellent names, like Beverly Bingham, they’re also well-developed and interesting. Hassler did a fantastic job in creating the protagonist bachelor teacher, who has serious faults but is still likable and realistic. Hassler also does an excelle...more
This is a very slow moving, amusing, readable, and re-readable piece. Through Hassler’s lovely prose and storytelling prowess, the book reels you in until you simply can’t put it down. Not only do the characters have excellent names, like Beverly Bingham, they’re also well-developed and interesting. Hassler did a fantastic job in creating the protagonist bachelor teacher, who has serious faults but is still likable and realistic. Hassler also does an excelle...more
The worlds Jon Hassler paints are ugly. Something in me recoils from the unprettiness of the scenery - the messiness of the characters' lives. Jane Austen, on the other hand, enthralls me. Her worlds are succinct, neat, tidy orderly. Even the chaos in her novels is well-framed by virtue, and never becomes too unhinged. In contrast, Hassler plays with the dark side of each mind. You never are allowed fully to escape from the fact of chaos. The situations in this book are - messy. The main charact...more
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This was the fourth Jon Hassler novel I read but the first he wrote. In it, he introduces us to Staggerford, a northern Minnesota town that we discover is a two-hour drive from Duluth. It appears at first blush to be a dull town full of dull people, and "Staggerford" the book is dull in places as well. But we learn that there is more to the people, and the novel, than at first meets the eye.
My favorite among these people is Miss Agatha McGee, who like me is a traditionalist. She is a Catholic sc...more
My favorite among these people is Miss Agatha McGee, who like me is a traditionalist. She is a Catholic sc...more
Jul 13, 2011
Lianne
added it
Don't know how it happened but I've never previously encountered any of Jon Hassler's series about Staggerford, a Minnesota town not unlike Lake Wobegon. This is the first of the series published in 1974. Its major character is Miles, a thirty-five year old high school teacher who is in love with his boss's wife and settling into bachelorhood. The plot covers an eventful week in the life of the school. Miles boards with a semi retired parochial school teacher, named Miss Mc Gee, who becomes an u...more
This is Hassler's first book, and an interesting one. I enjoyed it, but am torn between 3 and 4 stars.
It takes place over 6 or 7 days in Staggerford, a small town I believe to be in Western or Northern Minnesota. Its a nice town, but full of all the troubles of the 70's. The story revolves around the hometown high school english teacher.
It starts very slowly, with the pace of a portait painter from before the camera era. By the third day you start to care for the characters and by late in the f...more
It takes place over 6 or 7 days in Staggerford, a small town I believe to be in Western or Northern Minnesota. Its a nice town, but full of all the troubles of the 70's. The story revolves around the hometown high school english teacher.
It starts very slowly, with the pace of a portait painter from before the camera era. By the third day you start to care for the characters and by late in the f...more
Apr 14, 2011
Spiros
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
those in search of an amiable book
Recommended to Spiros by:
Hungry George
Shelves:
bookhouse
An amiable book. I know nothing of the author, Jon Hassler; but on the evidence of this novel, I am willing to postulate an English Literature major, who focused on Trollope. He certainly likes to give each of his characters longwinded speeches, some of which, particularly those of the the officious and ineffectual school principal, Wayne Workman, are quite amusing. This novel came out in 1974 but, aside from references to the American Indian Movement, and boys with long hair, it lacks any '70's...more
I feel a little guilty giving Jon Hassler's debut only four stars. I suppose the knockdown from five is for scale. Yeah, it's a small novel in some ways, but this tale of a week in the life of a bachelor school teacher and other small-town Midwesterners is by turns funny as hell and quite moving. Regional writing doesn't get a whole lot better. For me, Hassler finds just the right mix of darkness and light in the hearts of his characters, and as his first venture into 10-plus novels of the explo...more
Funny. I read this when I was in my early 20s and Miles Pruett seemed like an old man, skimming reviews and I now realize he's only in his mid-30s & young! This is another small town book that I loved. Found it a fast and amusing read. Hassler knows rural Minnesota well & his characters are true, perhaps a bit exaggerated or quirky, but still loveable on the edges. If you've ever spent time in the northern half of Minnesota you've known these people. Nosy, yet guarded. Conservative on th...more
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May 29, 2010
Bayneeta
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
summer-2010-book-discussion
Re-read for a book discussion, and I'm happy to say it held up on the second reading. Great characters ranging from high school students to senior citizens, interesting small town (northern Minnesota) locale. Miles Pruitt is 35, teaches English at the Staggerford High School, is in love with the home ec teacher who happens to be married to the principal, rents a room from Agatha McGee who teaches 6th grade at the local Catholic grade school, and has an ambiguous relationship with the local libra...more
The story of a week in the life of a thirty-five year old school teacher in the small town of Staggerford, Minnesota. The New York Times said, "A writer good enough to restore your faith in fiction." That's what got me to read this book. It's an old book. It's been around a few decades, so your sure to find it on your library's shelves. This was a book filled with rich descriptions, hilarious scenarios, and an engrossing story. I don't want to give away too much, but if you want a great read, yo...more
I'm often drawn to books about people, often living in small towns, whose lives are bigger than may seem to the eye of the casual observer. And while I'm drawn to them I'm also often disappointed (Sherwood Anderson, anyone?) and like I could do better (well, duh...). Staggerford is one of those books.
On the outside it has great potential. Miles Pruitt is a 35-year-old teacher in Staggerford, Minnesota, a small town with a supposedly big heart, if you can just get past the neuroses of the charact...more
On the outside it has great potential. Miles Pruitt is a 35-year-old teacher in Staggerford, Minnesota, a small town with a supposedly big heart, if you can just get past the neuroses of the charact...more
This is more of a confession than a review. A few weeks ago I was overnighting with my next-of-kin, and I had trouble sleeping. So I went out into the basement living space and curled up on the sofa with a book called "Staggerford" by Jon Hassler that I found on a bookshelf in another room. I had read Hassler before, but never any of the Staggerford stuff. I was intrigued. And when I packed up to leave next morning, I packed up Staggerford and too it along. Without asking. It came to me as I rea...more
This book was, and will always remain, the first experience I can remember as an "adult" with horrible writing. I was assigned it in advanced English, though why it should be considered appropriate for such a course is beyond me. I was told mostly that we were reading it because Hassler was a rarity in Minnesota, a successful native author. Well apparently, F. Scott Fitzgerald he wasn't. This book, set in a small Minnesota town, as all Hassler books are, is abysmally shoddy. Firstly, let's deal...more
This was a pretty good book. I was sitting across from the head of Non-Fiction/Reference today when I suddenly blurt out “Holy s**t!” She didn’t even blink. Must be used to me. This book plods along for the first two hundred pages and then does a complete 180. It’s almost like two different authors wrote it. I don’t want to go into detail here, but let’s just say the ending comes completely out of left field. I had to read it twice to make sure I didn’t misunderstand something.
This book turned out to be better than the first 200 pages lead me to believe. I kept wondering "what's the point of this story", but the major event later in the story made me realize how much I had actually invested in the story, how much I identified with the characters, how everything leading up to the event was important, and how unexpected (to me) the big event was.
Ohh, and also a sort of resolved, but mostly unresolved ending (such as happens in real life) was also nice.
Ohh, and also a sort of resolved, but mostly unresolved ending (such as happens in real life) was also nice.
Going to send this to a good friend who's a high school English teacher when I've finished it. She has been in my mind the whole time I've been reading and sometimes I've laughed aloud at the thought of how hard she'll laugh at some of the passages describing the protagonist's life as a high school English teacher. She will *so* relate!
Great book. Thoroughly enjoying it. Thinking of putting Jon Hassler on my "read anything by this author" list.
Great book. Thoroughly enjoying it. Thinking of putting Jon Hassler on my "read anything by this author" list.
Jul 10, 2012
Marne
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
minnesota,
great-plains
It took me a while to get into this book, but once I did I was hooked and finished it quickly. Although the setting in the mid-70's is just a little bit before my time, this book captured the nuances of small town life on the prairie very well. It reminded me very much of Downtown Owl by Chuck Klosterman. I hear the later books Hassler wrote about Staggerford aren't up to quite the same level, but I'm willing to try more of his other writings in the future.
Hassler portrays his characters with idiosyncrasies and flaws and ambitions; in short, they're like us, pretty much ordinary but compelling in their own ways. Agatha was my favorite. Without much of a plot, it is easy to want to skim portions, but that means missing some funny passages - maybe ironic and wry and better words, but there's a humor at times you don't expect.
This is the first in a series of novels, and is deceptively low key. The author portays human nature with compassion and wit. This book reminded me of that favorite picnic salad of many layers: peas, lettuce, mayo, cheese, etc. Basic elements that are simple and maybe boring on their own but delicious when all stirred together. I enjoyed it.
This is a quiet story of some would say too ordinary people. Some of the teachers and school administrators are stereotypes, but stereotypes exist for a reason. Because I had already, long ago read the second and third books in this series, I already knew the ending. That might have softened it for me, but I still felt strongly for Agatha McGee in her loss.
Sweet story of a high school teacher in the 1970s. I am liking the characters so far. I want to learn more about the, the kids in school and where they will all be at the end of this school year. Skimmed through it, because the writing got a little tedious. But, still, I wanted to find out how it ends. I won't give the ending away!
Of all the wonderful Jon Hassler novels, this is perhaps my favorite one because it's about an English teacher. All of the novels are set in Minnesota, and I think most people in the Midwest would recognize the people in Hassler's novels. If you have never read a Hassler novel, you owe it to yourself to read one.
Dec 17, 2011
Cheryl in CC NV
marked it as wishlist
I liked (but don't remember well and could read again) A Green Journey. The library has a few Hassler books, but not this, the first placed in this town. A teacher in small-town MN - come on, I gotta read it.
Spiros says this book is 'amiable'. It is from the 70s. Were they an amiable decade? Since I am reading a book of interviews from the natives of the Soviet 70s, I am asking this question. There is something amiable, provincial, small-time, cozy, weak-willed, defeated, about the Soviet 70s. And in the U.S.?
So pleasant...a charming story with engaging characters. Easy reading.
I appreciated Miles plodding, thoughtful nature and Miss McGee's kindly, stern discipline. School teachers will appreciate this one.
(I was somewhat disappointed with the ending...but other options would have been fanciful too.)
I appreciated Miles plodding, thoughtful nature and Miss McGee's kindly, stern discipline. School teachers will appreciate this one.
(I was somewhat disappointed with the ending...but other options would have been fanciful too.)
Wow! What a great book. I'm really falling in love with stories about small town America. Real and entertaining characters, great detail to the beauty in life's mundane details, and a heart-wrenching portrayal of how much the 1960s ruptured with the past. Sad at times, but profoundly beautiful throughout.
Jon Hassler is one of my dad's favorite authors. I think I read the majority of his books before I even started college since they were readily available, and I have to say he's become one of my favorite authors too. He captures the Minnesota vibe effortlessly and creates interesting characters.
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Jon Hassler was born in Minneapolis, but spent his formative years in the small Minnesota towns of Staples and Plainview, where he graduated from high school. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in English from St. John's University in 1955. While teaching English at three different Minnesota high schools, he received his Master of Arts degree in English from the University of North Dakota in...more
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