Minnesota Memoirs — Duff Brenna

Mesmerizing: In 17 riveting stories set in the author's native Minnesota, Duff Brenna's edgy tales journey from the mid-19th century to our current 21st century. While capturing the history centered in and around the cities of Medicine Lake, Golden Valley, Anoka, Minneapolis and Mankato, Minnesota Memoirs unfurl a series of unique narratives revealing a transfiguring perception of what it means to be alive in a world that never explains its quiet indifference to all things human. Called “a spectacular talent at crafting complex, believable characters” (Wall Street Journal), “a honed intelligence, unfaltering, unflinching, piercing” (New York Times) and “a master at capturing the helplessness of humans … with tough written all over them” (Los Angeles Times), Brenna's insights into human nature show us who we are as a species and what we are capable of -- our capacities for love and hate, intense desire, sanity, insanity, magnanimity, generosity of spirit and, above all, compassion.