Dairylandia: Dispatches from a State of Mind

by Steve Hannah

Years ago, Steve Hannah’s chance detour through the Midwest cut short a planned cross-country trip. He found himself in Wisconsin, a distinctly different place from the east coast where he was born and raised. Charmingly beautiful and full of welcoming people, America’s dairyland would soon become his home.
Dairylandia recounts Steve Hannah’s burgeoning love for his adopted state through the writings of his long-lived column, “State of Mind.” He profiles the lives of the seemingly ordinary, yet quite (and quietly) extraordinary folks he met and befriended on his travels. From Norwegian farmers to rattlesnake hunters to a woman who kept her favorite dead bird in the freezer, Hannah was charmed and fascinated by practically everyone he met. These captivating vignettes are by turns humorous, tragic, and remarkable—and remind us of our shared humanity.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Hardcover

Published October 15, 2019

Reviews

[La Crosse County Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dairylandia is an amusing and melancholy read for any Wisconsinite or wannabe. Steve Hannah is a journalist and was managing editor of the Milwaukee Journal and CEO of The Onion. He introduces us to characters across our state, including a woman who loved her pet bird so much that she froze it after death and showed Steve years later. A sad tale tells of a farmer who killed his family and himself for no apparent reason. An escaped elephant once broke into a nursing home in Prairie du Sac, and one woman held the title for most deer hit by car with a whopping sixteen incidents. These vignettes are often funny and sometimes tear-jerking. I enjoyed these tales very much.

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[Mary Northrup · Rating 4 out of 5]

Journalist Hannah here collects a number of his columns that appeared in the Milwaukee Journal in the 1990s, with notes that bring the reader up to date on what's happened to those people. And the stories are about people -- heartwarming, chilling, funny, and just plain interesting. It would probably be of most interest to Wisconsinites.

[John Benson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A few weeks ago, my good friend Mark Kile, a retired St. Paul librarian, sent me this book as a gift. I am afraid my views of Wisconsin, our neighbor state, have not been too good since Scott Walker took over as governor and dismantled its teachers union and the Republicans messed up their government. This book made me appreciate the regular and good people who live there. Steve Hannah wrote human interest stories about people in Wisconsin for many years. I never read any of them, but this book brings back many of them. In this collection, he introduces these key people, includes his original column, and then tells what happened to them since the column was written. He writes with both understanding and a gentle sense of humor. It was an excellent book that reminded me that the people of Wisconsin mattered, and not the poor state of their state government.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent stories of "average" Wisconsinites. I laughed, I cried.

If you loved Charles Kuralt, you'll love Steve Hannah.

[Michael Kearney · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love Charles Kuralt you will love this book. Steve Hannah captures the Wisconsin I know, very down home, with just the right dose of pride.

[Eleanor Kallo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating book of, essentially, short stories about people from Wisconsin. It really is a wild state, and this was a fun listen as I'm moving away ❤️

[Wendy Hellwig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable book, especially for Wisconsinites.

[Caroline Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone who came to Wisconsin for college, moved away after graduation, and recently moved back to the Badger State, I greatly enjoyed this book. I write book reviews on my Substack and have quote a snippet below.
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The cover of Dairylandia: Dispatches from a State of Mind stands out from a crowd, with a large barn featuring a painting of the famous Mona Lisa wearing a 1994 Rose Bowl shirt. In case you miss the small motion W tucked in the bottom portion of the painting, a herd of cows reassure you that this book is all about Wisconsin and its quirks.

Read more and subscribe here: https://everydayadventures.substack.c...

[Diane Madlon-Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars

[Carol]

Like Steve Hannah, I came to Wisconsin from New Jersey in the early 1970s - and have come to consider myself a resident. Hannah got to know his adopted state and its people quite thoroughly as a reporter and editor, and I very much enjoyed his insights into the Midwest. His portraits of some of the memorable characters he's met over the past few decades are both amusing and moving, and I was inspired by his appreciation of the beauty of Wisconsin's landscape to look more closely as I travel around the state. It's always fun to come across people you know when you read a book, and that happened a couple of times for me in Dairylandia - because as the author discovered, Wisconsin is the kind of place where there aren't a lot of barriers as to who may meet.

Please note that I don't use the star rating system, so this review should not be viewed as a zero.

[Linda Wells · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting with a wide variety of stories about many different Wisconsinites. Excellent insight into people ranging from criminals to farmers, architects to teachers. I couldn’t put it down, I kept wanting to read one more section!

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartwarming stories for any Wisconsinite!