Greater Minnesota

Exploring the Land of Sky-Blue Waters

By: Patrick Hicks

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Paperback | 1 September 2025

At a Glance

Paperback
208 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
15.2 x 22.9 x 1.2

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A witty, wise, and affectionate journey to every corner of the North Star State. After years of living abroad, writer and poet Patrick Hicks returns to Minnesota only to find that his home state feels like a foreign country. In the tradition of Bill Bryson and Paul Theroux, Greater Minnesota is an account of Hicks's discoveries. Half travelogue, half history, and fully delightful in its exploration of new places and people, this book follows Hicks as he ventures to the North Shore, the Iron Range, the Southwest, and even Up North in the dead of winter. As he travels the back roads of the state, he visits the Mayo Clinic, the SPAM Museum, ancient petroglyphs, the US Hockey Hall of Fame, the birthplace of Minnesota Public Radio, a world-class aviation museum hidden on the prairie, a lost forest, the humble start of the Mississippi River, and other stops along the way that are both surprising and intriguing. Through conversations with people on his travels, Greater Minnesota brings the reader along as he searches for what it means to be a Minnesotan.

Industry Reviews

"Greater Minnesota had me spellbound about my own home state. I had thought I knew all there was to know. How wrong I was. Patrick Hicks delivers to us a travel book, a compendium of fascinating facts, a mini-memoir, a love letter, a reportorial tour de force, and an ode to the Land of Sky-Blue Waters. All of it wonderfully written, all of it vividly painted in words. What a fine, fine book." - Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried "In Greater Minnesota, Patrick Hicks invites the reader to join him on an enjoyable 6500-mile road trip to various corners of the North Star State. In these fascinating essays, Hicks seamlessly blends history, local legends and lore, interviews, and his own personal insights into a delectable literary hotdish. Whether you're a lifetime Minnesotan or an outsider peering in, you'll find these essays both enlightening and entertaining. Meditative moments on Lake Superior, bustling lumber towns, the sound of a slice of SPAM hitting a frying pan, life-sized state fair princesses sculpted in butter-they're all here. So, hop into the passenger's seat with Patrick at the wheel. You're guaranteed to have a great ride." - Bill Meissner, author of The Wonders of the Little World

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