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Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler's List: Indiana Stories
Enlarged edition, containing 15 stories
"Michael Martone writes with deep affection for the ordinary. In his hands, the quotidian dreams of the American heartland are transformed... " --Louise Erdrich
"This is a marvelous book.... What a gift!" --Richard Rhodes
"Michael Martone writes with deep affection for the ordinary. In his hands, the quotidian dreams of the American heartland are transformed... " --Louise Erdrich
"This is a marvelous book.... What a gift!" --Richard Rhodes
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
146 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1990
3 people are currently reading
270 people want to read
About the author
Michael Martone
65 books64 followersMichael A. Martone is a professor at the creative writing program at the University of Alabama, and is the author of several books. His most recent work, titled Michael Martone and originally written as a series of contributor's notes for various publications, is an investigation of form and autobiography.
A former student of John Barth, Martone's work is critically regarded as powerful and funny. Making use of Whitman's catalogues and Ginsberg's lists, the events, moments and places in Martone's landscapes — fiction or otherwise — often take the same Mobius-like turns of the threads found the works of his mentor, Barth.
A former student of John Barth, Martone's work is critically regarded as powerful and funny. Making use of Whitman's catalogues and Ginsberg's lists, the events, moments and places in Martone's landscapes — fiction or otherwise — often take the same Mobius-like turns of the threads found the works of his mentor, Barth.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 25, 2014
Every time the narrative moves outside of Fort Wayne, my attention span flickers. (Who the hell cares about Indianapolis, for example??)
There is something unsettling about reading this book. Indiana as an ethos, as a summer scent, as a state of mind is recognizable. Yet I find my consciousness coming back to Joan Didion:
"And in a world we understood early to be characterized by venality and doubt and paralyzing ambiguities, he suggested another world, one which may or may not have existed ever but in any case existed no more..." Didion was talking about John Wayne, but the sentiment applies here just as well.
There is something unsettling about reading this book. Indiana as an ethos, as a summer scent, as a state of mind is recognizable. Yet I find my consciousness coming back to Joan Didion:
"And in a world we understood early to be characterized by venality and doubt and paralyzing ambiguities, he suggested another world, one which may or may not have existed ever but in any case existed no more..." Didion was talking about John Wayne, but the sentiment applies here just as well.
January 11, 2009
I loved the stories in the little book. I've read them over and over. Whenever I need a good laugh about my hometown (Fort Wayne, Indiana), I pick it up. Martone and I grew up in the same general neighborhood, though he's a few years older than I am. In particular, I like the story about Col. Sanders (yes, that Col. Sanders). The restaurant he's going to visit, sadly, no longer exists, though the one described in the story where he has his car parked overnight, does still exist. It serves the best ice cream in Fort Wayne. Another character described in another story is man named Eldon Lapp. In the story, Eldon Lapp parachutes into enemy territory during WWII and is rescued by Boy Scouts and decides to commit his life to Scouting. I don't know if it's true or not, but Eldon Lapp was my head of my Cub Scout pack when I was 9 and 10.
November 17, 2020
This grew on me the more I read. I love the varied storytelling and Martone's ability to channel historical characters and places in a realistic way. If you are small brained like me, you may have trouble reading some of the more nontraditional types of short stories in this collection, but overall it is a good read. Maybe I just like reading stories set in my little part of the world.
February 15, 2020
I have no idea what I just read. Most of it was too weird, even for me. My favorite story was probably “Pieces,” not because I enjoyed the story, but because of the setting. It begins in Fort Wayne (my hometown), they travel to Mackinaw City (with plan to go to Mackinac Island - one of my favorite places) and then back to Fort Wayne.
Much of this book was trippy and strange (almost Vonnegut-ish in places). Not my kind of writing, but some of it was interesting.
Much of this book was trippy and strange (almost Vonnegut-ish in places). Not my kind of writing, but some of it was interesting.
July 23, 2018
These Indiana stories weave together fact and fiction, offering a multi-faceted perspective on some of our state's stories. Excellent!
January 4, 2019
A terrific read for any Hoosier!
March 6, 2023
Never lived in Indiana but I loved these stories. Just strange enough to build a real sense of place and time.
October 24, 2023
such delicate and beautiful story telling!!!
October 6, 2020
This is the second manifestation of Michael Martone’s book of Indiana stories that started, nine strong, with the Gordon Lish-edited Alive and dead in Indiana, added a couple more stories and changed its title for this edition, then added another four to become the enlarged and possibly final Fort Wayne is Seventh on Hitler's List: Indiana Stories.
I know little about Indiana and could barely point to it on a map of the USA...yet I still liked the book. The title story brings together almost anything to do with memories of the war, rumours during the war, things that might remind you of the war, and Fort Wayne: “Every Wednesday, when the sirens go off...you half expect to hear the planes, their names as recognizable as those of automobiles. Heinkels lumber out of the east...Stukas dive on the wire-and-die works, starting their run at the International Harvester bell tower...Junkers wheel and Messerschmitts circle.” It’s a little whimsical and I feared we might be heading into the cute territory of W.P. Kinsella and that somebody would start playing baseball with imaginary Luftwaffe pilots...but the stories are more sure-footed than that, adeptly changing tone and pace and style – and are full of surprises, despite being anchored to Indiana.
A theme common to most of them is the incorporation of an historical person – James Dean, Alfred Kinsey, John Birch – into the fiction, sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely. It’s a technique that muddies the waters between the reader’s knowledge and the author’s imagination, between what passes for real and and what passes for imaginary.
“Whistler’s Father” concerns a youth who works in an historical re-enactment, replicating the life of George Washington Whistler in a replica of the original Fort Wayne built on a replica of the original site. Recreating the past, he knows his fate as the yet-to-be-born artist’s father and the outcome of the incidents and events recreated by his historic friends and colleagues in the fort, but these are all intermixed with the unknown fates of his contemporary friends and family, with tourists, and with the sights and sounds of the surrounding city: “Cars are going by on Spy Run. Flashes of color. Engines are revved high. People are on their way home from work. We stand there on the edge of the crowd, my dad and I, listening to an argument that was settled a long time ago.”.
The mock fort exists; I looked it up. They do re-enactments. And Santa Claus is real. So Fort Wayne probably was seventh on Hitler’s List. Martone is like that. Good book.
I know little about Indiana and could barely point to it on a map of the USA...yet I still liked the book. The title story brings together almost anything to do with memories of the war, rumours during the war, things that might remind you of the war, and Fort Wayne: “Every Wednesday, when the sirens go off...you half expect to hear the planes, their names as recognizable as those of automobiles. Heinkels lumber out of the east...Stukas dive on the wire-and-die works, starting their run at the International Harvester bell tower...Junkers wheel and Messerschmitts circle.” It’s a little whimsical and I feared we might be heading into the cute territory of W.P. Kinsella and that somebody would start playing baseball with imaginary Luftwaffe pilots...but the stories are more sure-footed than that, adeptly changing tone and pace and style – and are full of surprises, despite being anchored to Indiana.
A theme common to most of them is the incorporation of an historical person – James Dean, Alfred Kinsey, John Birch – into the fiction, sometimes directly, sometimes obliquely. It’s a technique that muddies the waters between the reader’s knowledge and the author’s imagination, between what passes for real and and what passes for imaginary.
“Whistler’s Father” concerns a youth who works in an historical re-enactment, replicating the life of George Washington Whistler in a replica of the original Fort Wayne built on a replica of the original site. Recreating the past, he knows his fate as the yet-to-be-born artist’s father and the outcome of the incidents and events recreated by his historic friends and colleagues in the fort, but these are all intermixed with the unknown fates of his contemporary friends and family, with tourists, and with the sights and sounds of the surrounding city: “Cars are going by on Spy Run. Flashes of color. Engines are revved high. People are on their way home from work. We stand there on the edge of the crowd, my dad and I, listening to an argument that was settled a long time ago.”.
The mock fort exists; I looked it up. They do re-enactments. And Santa Claus is real. So Fort Wayne probably was seventh on Hitler’s List. Martone is like that. Good book.
November 10, 2014
Martone's collection is comprised completely of monologues exploring "the relationship between fact and fiction as well as the intersection between fame and obscurity." (preface.)
Like any collection, some stories are better than others. I believe "Everybody Watching and the Time Passing like that, a monologue by James Dean's high school drama teacher (yes, the Rebel without a Cause James Dean,) is worth the cost of the book. I like my historical fiction factual and while I didn't verify every detail in the story, Martone's ability to weave fact within his fiction is exemplary.
Like any collection, some stories are better than others. I believe "Everybody Watching and the Time Passing like that, a monologue by James Dean's high school drama teacher (yes, the Rebel without a Cause James Dean,) is worth the cost of the book. I like my historical fiction factual and while I didn't verify every detail in the story, Martone's ability to weave fact within his fiction is exemplary.
November 28, 2013
Some of the stories were good. I think the last one relied too much on knowing obscure details about Dillinger. 1) Jimmy Probasco was another small time crook that some people believe was the one really shot outside of the Biograph Theater and Manhattan Melodrama starring Clark Gable was theories that was playing.
February 13, 2011
Some interesting ideas in this book. Not sure I got it. Maybe too smart for me or maybe it's too abstract. There didn't seem to be enough for me to sink my teeth into. Everything smelled of cut and paste. Was never too sure what Martone was getting at.
February 22, 2008
short stories about the midwest. very tasty.
November 19, 2009
Fabulous collection!
January 26, 2009
Interesting book, but not worth a re-read.
Read
March 11, 2015slightly revised/expanded version of "alive and dead in indiana"
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews