THE THIRD COAST: SAILORS, STRIPPERS, FISHERMEN, FOLKSINGERS, LONG-HAIRED OJIBWAY PAINTERS, AND GOD-SAVE-THE-QUEEN MONARCHISTS OF THE GREAT LAKES
McClelland’s affection for the lakes and their peoples comes through in portraits of characters like an Ojibway painter cheerfully playing Native-in-residence at Ontario’s Pukaskwa National Park, or the graying lefties at an antiwar concert in Duluth. “The Upper Midwestern left isn’t angry,” he writes. “It is earnest, wholesome, nonconfrontational, and a little hurt that the U.S.A. settles its conflicts with violence. It goes to church and volunteers at the nature center. Its car is rusty. It needs a new pair of Rockport walking shoes. It pays ten dollars to hear folk music at the Unitarian fellowship.”
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But at times his crush on his subject blinds him to its complexities. His sources are disproportionately the sort of old timers who like to tell tales—War of 1812 reenactors, lighthouse buffs, “boat nerds.” This is understandable from a reporting standpoint: they’re colorful, chatty, and not off at work like everybody else. But it lends a certain sameness to the texture of the narrative; after a while I was longing to hear someone under 30 discuss life on the Great Lakes. Instead, McClelland’s search for a Great Lakes culture is clouded by nostalgia’s addictive fog. In Cleveland, for instance, he’s distressed to discover break-dancers and craft beer. The “real Cleveland,” he laments, is pierogis, polka, and Pabst Blue Ribbon. Never mind the story behind the Great Lakes Brewing Company, a 20-year-old microbrewery that built its brand on Cleveland lore. McClelland seems happy to ignore the facts on the ground if they don’t fit his predetermined notion of authenticity.
Thomas Dunne Books | $23.95
Elizabeth Crane
