With the lyrics of a Replacements song running through his head ("Look me in the eye, then tell me that I'm satisfied"), David Giffels--with his wife and infant son in tow--combs the environs of Akron, Ohio, in search of the perfect house for his burgeoning family. The quest ends at the front door of a beautiful but decaying Gilded Age mansion, the once-grand former residence of a rubber-industry executive. It lacks functional plumbing and electricity, leaks rain like a cartoon shack, and is infested with all manner of wildlife. But for a young father at a coming-of-age...
With the lyrics of a Replacements song running through his head ("Look me in the eye, then tell me that I'm satisfied"), David Giffels--wi...
Award-winning author and journalist David Giffels explores the meaning of identity and place, hamburgers, hard work, and basketball in this collection of wry, irreverent essays reflecting on the many aspects of Midwestern culture and life from an insider's perspective. In The Hard Way on Purpose, David Giffels takes us on an insider's journey through the wreckage and resurgence of America's Rust Belt. A native who never knew the good times, yet never abandoned his hometown of Akron, Giffels plumbs the touchstones and idiosyncrasies of a region where industry has fallen, bowling is...
Award-winning author and journalist David Giffels explores the meaning of identity and place, hamburgers, hard work, and basketball in this collection...
In many ways, Ohio has become for America the quintessential heartland state, for what happens in Ohio happens over all of the United States. Ohio has been a bellwether swing state for the winning candidate in every presidential election since 1944 except one. It's also the place where fast-food companies test-market new products and the place where chewing gum, Teflon, and the first cash register, first vacuum cleaner, first airplane, first traffic signal, and first gas-powered automobile were invented. You can't get more heartland than that. Even the state's Division of Travel and Tourism...
In many ways, Ohio has become for America the quintessential heartland state, for what happens in Ohio happens over all of the United States. Ohio has...
