O'Gieblyn was raised as an evangelical Christian in the Midwest. She lost her faith while attending Moody Bible College and eventually became a professor at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her background gives her an insider's understanding of the Midwestern worldview and the coastal cultural elite worldview. Her main goal in these essays is to show how each side of this divide oversimplifies the views of the other, and that a lot of liberal secular culture shares basic concerns with traditional Christian culture.
The first essay, "Dispatch from Flyover Country," starts with a nice metaphor. From the porch of their trailer in the western Michigan woods, O'Gieblyn and her husband look out over Lake Michigan at the unusual but beautiful sunset. The haziness is caused by wildfires in California. The essay goes on to describe how Midwesterners feel left behind by the cultural vanguard at the coasts, but that the cultural changes filter into their lives whether they like it or not.
The best essays ("Dispatch from Flyover Country," "Contemporaries," and "Hell") are the ones that capture her betwixt feeling without trying to explain it too much. All of them offer a subtle and respectful demonstration of cultural conservatism.
The first essay, "Dispatch from Flyover Country," starts with a nice metaphor. From the porch of their trailer in the western Michigan woods, O'Gieblyn and her husband look out over Lake Michigan at the unusual but beautiful sunset. The haziness is caused by wildfires in California. The essay goes on to describe how Midwesterners feel left behind by the cultural vanguard at the coasts, but that the cultural changes filter into their lives whether they like it or not.
The best essays ("Dispatch from Flyover Country," "Contemporaries," and "Hell") are the ones that capture her betwixt feeling without trying to explain it too much. All of them offer a subtle and respectful demonstration of cultural conservatism.
No comments:
Post a Comment