How to Talk Minnesotan: A Visitor's Guide

I read this book once, 12 years ago, and still laugh when I think about it. Anyone who is from Minnesota (especially from a small town), or moved there from somewhere else, would appreciate this book... because it unwraps the cultural norms that we grew up with not thinking twice about them until we left (or moved in). The reader who didn't get it must live in Dinkytown, the glorious place that will be forever remembered as the hang out and career beginnings of Robert Zimmerman (Bob Dillan). If you can't laugh about yourself, you must be dull... or perhaps a bit too Minnesotan in your outlook, the perpetual underdog, Minnesota, the Mondale State. There's a saying in Minnesota...'40 below keeps out the rif-raf.'

I was given "How to Talk Minnesotan" by some wonderful friends as a 'welcome to Minnesota' gift back in 1995, and found it instantly hilarious. What was less obvious, though, was how accurate this book was in many ways, most particularly in rural Minnesota. Although I wasn't born in Minnesota, I now love it and consider myself an adopted Minnesotan, but after nine years I am still learning to master the subtle complexities of Minnesota interactions so perfectly defined in this book. Howard Mohr ("Creator of Minnesota Language Systems"), a brilliant writer for 'A Prairie Home Companion,' details all the basics of talking Minnesotan form the viewpoint of a visitor. After reading this book, you will: learn how to refuse food three times before accepting it; learn to reduce anxiety with the all-purpose reaction "it could be worse"; learn proper conduct at Bob's B-17 Park, the Particle Board Pageant, and the Deep Woods Tent Casino; and learn the proper way of accepting a gift from a Minnesotan (hint: never call it a gift). There are wonderful examples of all linguistic areas provided as well as guides to where to go in Minnesota, Minnesota dating etiquette, and an overview of Minnesotan cuisine, including detailed explanations of various hotdish concepts unseen outside Minnesota. This is a wonderful book, with more than a little humor and more than a little truth in it. I love Minnesota, and I love this book. It's a heckuva deal.

I bought this book for my brother for his birthday years ago. I borrowed it from him and haven't given it back yet. If you were raised in rural Minnesota, Iowa or Wisconsin, this book will remind you of home. The piece about hot dishes and tacos (pronounced TAH-co) really cracked me up. We still laugh about the Minnesota good-byes that resemble the ritual still practiced in Wisconsin today. You, the visitor, have to mention that it is time to go at least three times (with intermittent periods of conversation) before you actually take leave or you are considered a bit rude.

As a transplanted Minnesotan living in Idaho, this is one of funniest commentaries I have seen on life in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. If you've ever lived in Minnesota, you'll roll on the ground with laughter while reading this book.

Well, ya know, dis book has been generating smiles since I received it as a gift in 1987, shortly after moving from northern MN to southern CA. Ofer Pete's sake, many a former-Minnesotan I've known has enjoyed the book, dontchya know. It is currently loaned to a "Fargo" fan. The book, incidentally, has gained recent popularity amongst my acquaintances because of the movie. Whatever