Back to Misery Bay

by Lauri Anderson

"Like Faulkner and O'Connor, Anderson commits his imagination to his own stamp of the universe―the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Once again, in this collection, he delivers well-wrought stories of gravity and levity, of things fleeting, of a love of one's region." – Kevin Cole, University of Sioux Falls

175 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sandy Wuorenmaa]

I am not good at writing book reviews, but I agree with a previous review that said this book was "mean." Even though I did enjoy most of the stories, I also felt bad reading them because the author was so derogatory about the people of the area. Too much so. I even tried to figure out if the author was trying to be humorous, but if he was, he failed, in my opinion.

I would really like any responses to my review, to see if anyone else felt somewhat the same.

[Jennifer]

What I liked most about this book was references to things like Tapiola and South Range and Swedetown. Somtimes the characters made me chuckle; other times they seemed way too contrived. The writing was so-so at best (the editor should have made another pass). I really just had fun remembering how to pronounce things like Tapiola... :)

[Lawrence Lihosit]

Written by an English professor at a small, unknown college, this is a clunker. It is hard to believe that his neighbors have not run him out of town on a rail for that is what he does: rail at how stupid the locals surrounding Finlandia University are. Do not bother to read this.

[Kelly]

I think that this is a great book to read. Despite what Lawrence has to say. I guess that you have to experiance the area to appreciate it.

[Laura]

It was mean.