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Greater Minnesota: Exploring the Land of Sky-Blue Waters
A witty, wise, and affectionate journey to every corner of the North Star State. After years of living abroad, writer and poet Patrick Hicks returns to Minnesota only to find that his home state feels like a foreign country.
In the tradition of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, Greater Minnesota is an account of Hicks's discoveries. Half travelogue, half history, and fully delightful in its exploration of new places and people, this book follows Hicks as he ventures to the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Southwest, and even Up North in the dead of winter. As he travels the back roads of the state, he visits the Mayo Clinic, the SPAM Museum, ancient petroglyphs, the US Hockey Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio, a world-class aviation museum hidden on the prairie, a lost forest, the humble start of the Mississippi River, and other stops along the way that are both surprising and intriguing.
Through conversations with people on his travels, Greater Minnesota brings the reader along as he searches for what it means to be a Minnesotan.
In the tradition of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, Greater Minnesota is an account of Hicks's discoveries. Half travelogue, half history, and fully delightful in its exploration of new places and people, this book follows Hicks as he ventures to the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Southwest, and even Up North in the dead of winter. As he travels the back roads of the state, he visits the Mayo Clinic, the SPAM Museum, ancient petroglyphs, the US Hockey Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio, a world-class aviation museum hidden on the prairie, a lost forest, the humble start of the Mississippi River, and other stops along the way that are both surprising and intriguing.
Through conversations with people on his travels, Greater Minnesota brings the reader along as he searches for what it means to be a Minnesotan.
208 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2025
33 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Hicks
24 books98 followersPatrick Hicks is the author of over ten books, including The Collector of Names, Adoptable, and This London—he also wrote the critically and popularly acclaimed novel, The Commandant of Lubizec, which was published by Steerforth/Random House.
His work has appeared in such journals and magazines as Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, The Missouri Review, The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly Review, Salon, Chronicle of Higher Education, Commonweal, Huffington Post, Guernica, The Utne Reader, and many others.
He has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize, he was recently a finalist for the High Plains Book Award, the Dzanc Short Story Competition, the Gival Press Novel Award, and the Steinberg Essay Prize. His poetry has appeared on NPR, The PBSNewsHour, and American Life in Poetry. His first novel held company among only 20 books selected for National Reading Group Month and it was listed as a Top Pick for First Year College Programs. A winner of the Glimmer Train Fiction Award, he is also the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships, including awards from the Bush Artist Foundation, the South Dakota Arts Council, the Loft Literary Center, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was recently a finalist for an Emmy and is the radio host of Poetry from Studio 47.
A dual-citizen of Ireland and America, he is the Writer-in-Residence at Augustana University as well as a faculty member at the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College. He has lived in Northern Ireland, England, Germany, and Spain, but has returned to his Midwestern roots. When not writing, he enjoys watching thunderstorms roll across the prairie with his British wife and he is a sucker for playing in the backyard with his son, who was adopted from South Korea.
His work has appeared in such journals and magazines as Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, The Missouri Review, The Georgia Review, Prairie Schooner, Alaska Quarterly Review, Salon, Chronicle of Higher Education, Commonweal, Huffington Post, Guernica, The Utne Reader, and many others.
He has been nominated seven times for the Pushcart Prize, he was recently a finalist for the High Plains Book Award, the Dzanc Short Story Competition, the Gival Press Novel Award, and the Steinberg Essay Prize. His poetry has appeared on NPR, The PBSNewsHour, and American Life in Poetry. His first novel held company among only 20 books selected for National Reading Group Month and it was listed as a Top Pick for First Year College Programs. A winner of the Glimmer Train Fiction Award, he is also the recipient of a number of grants and fellowships, including awards from the Bush Artist Foundation, the South Dakota Arts Council, the Loft Literary Center, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. He was recently a finalist for an Emmy and is the radio host of Poetry from Studio 47.
A dual-citizen of Ireland and America, he is the Writer-in-Residence at Augustana University as well as a faculty member at the MFA program at Sierra Nevada College. He has lived in Northern Ireland, England, Germany, and Spain, but has returned to his Midwestern roots. When not writing, he enjoys watching thunderstorms roll across the prairie with his British wife and he is a sucker for playing in the backyard with his son, who was adopted from South Korea.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 16, 2025
what fun ride of Minnesota info! a must read for all locals.
October 19, 2025
A thoughtful, fun (as in non-stodgy) combined travelogue and memoir. I learned a lot about my new home state, and anyone with even a passing interest in the North Star State would enjoy it.
October 24, 2025
A fun read with interesting facts and wonderful historical insights into various sites throughout Minnesota, both well-known and also little visited. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would especially like to visit the Jefferson Petroglyphs!
November 22, 2025
This was an excellent travel book about the state of Minnesota from someone who grew up here, moved away and then came back. I have lived here for nearly my entire life and I learned some new things in this book.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews