Folktales and Legends of the Middle West

By Edward McClelland and David Wilson

America's first superheroes lived in the Midwest. There was Nanabozho, the Ojibway man-god who conquered the King of Fish, took control of the North Wind, and inspired Longfellow's The Song of Hiawatha. Paul Bunyan, the larger-than-life North Woods lumberjack, created Minnesota's 10,000 lakes with his giant footsteps. More recently, Pittsburgh steelworker Joe Magerac squeezed out rails between his fingers, and Rosie the Riveter churned out the planes that won the world's most terrible war. In Folktales and Legends of the Middle West, Edward McClelland collects these stories and more. Readers will learn the sea shanties of the Great Lakes sailors and the spirituals of the slaves following the North Star across the Ohio River, and be frightened by tales of the Lake Erie Monster and Wisconsin's dangerous Hodag. A history of the region as told through its folklore, music, and legends, this is a book every Midwestern family should own.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Belt Publishing
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781948742245

Edward McClelland

Edward McClelland is a veteran political journalist working out of Chicago. His previous books include The Third Coast: Sailors, Strippers, Fishermen, Folksingers, Long-Haired Ojibway Painters and God-Save-the-Queen Monarchists of the Great Lakes and Horseplayers: Life at the Track. He has written for the Chicago Reader, Boston Globe, Washington Post, Slate, Salon, Chicago magazine and many other publications.