State Fair: The Great Minnesota Get-Together

by Susan Miller (Photographer), Lorna Landvik (Foreword)

Machinery Hill. Edibles on a stick. Livestock competitions. Princess Kay of the Milky Way. The Grandstand. The Midway. It must be State Fair time!

A Minnesota institution since 1859, the Great Get-Together draws more than one and a half million people to the annual "Twelve Days of Fun" leading up to Labor Day. Newcomers may wonder what all the fuss is about, but they soon find that the fair truly offers something for everyone.

One such newcomer is Susan Lambert Miller. After living in Minnesota for six years, she finally made her way to the fair—and was hooked. From ten thousand photographs shot over four years, Miller has selected 150 stunning images that capture the fair's essence and arranged them to surprise and newborn ducklings waddle opposite duckies at a water game, a red hat lady joins a red hat llama, a super-sized hog reclines across from Famous Dave's food booth. These fresh and delightful photos and Lorna Landvik's charming "The Fair Maiden" capture the hilarity, the camaraderie, and the quirkiness that is the Minnesota State Fair.

Genres: Nonfiction, Photography

128 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2008

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some things you do in life because your experience will be new. Other things you do because you want things to be the same. The Minnesota State Fair is one of the latter. It is always best to go with a friend because you can eat half of twice as many foods - mini donuts, Martha's cookies, pork chop on a stick, a foot long hot dog, an elephant ear, and of course a walleye sandwich. You want to ride the lift chairs to the pet pavilion and watch the dog show, walk back to the fine arts building to see the best of paintings, sculpture, and photography, then stop at the creative arts building to see everything from hand knit sweaters, jams, hand made canoes and doll houses, quilts. Next is the DFL booth to see if your favorite politician is there. Of course you visit the horticulture building to see the best gardens, corn, flowers and grain art. You time leaving to be on the south side of the fairgrounds where the shuttle buses wait so that you can see the fireworks after the grandstand show and still beat that crowd to the ride home. I visited the fair at least 40 times. I can no longer walk the grounds, so this photography book was a treat. The introduction is written by one of my favorite local authors, Lorna Landvik. Kristi & Abby Tabby

[Kara Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun book...and don't skip the forward by Lorna Landvik!

[Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, what am I doing reading a book on the "Great Minnesota Get Together" in the dead of a Minnesota winter? Perhaps it's nice to have a little taste of summer as the wind chills dip into the double digits below zero and we can transport ourselves to a warmer season, but I am in the midst of weeding some of my excess books and this was a quick, easy read. It has been some years since I've attended the fair, but the photos here do a good job of showing off the essence of the Minnesota State Fair; farm animals, unhealthy food on sticks, all you can drink milk, carnival rides, crowds.

In spite of a few stories collected from fair goers by Lorna Landvik in the forward, the photos are included with minimal explanation or description, with some juxtaposing images such as "favorite fare" (corn on the cob) and "fair favorite" (the Fair's "Space Tower). These are fun, but don't offer much insight. Nice photographs to look back at a Minnesota summer institution.

[Lynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay. I'm prejudiced but I love our fair. The book is fun.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun closer look at pictures of the fair that we don't take the time to notice when at the fair.