B.J. Hollars's Books

Go West, Young Man

A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail

By: B.J. Hollars

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Go West, Young Man

A Father and Son Rediscover America on the Oregon Trail

By: B.J. Hollars

B.J. Hollars and his young son strike out on a 2,500-mile road trip to retrace the Oregon Trail. Their mission: to rediscover America—and Americans—along the way.

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Page Count

252

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496225902

ISBN 13

9781496225900

This Is Only a Test

By: B. J. Hollars

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The Truman Capote Prize-winning author “provides an offbeat look at the fragility of human life and our resilience when faced with death” (Kirkus). On April 27, 2011, just days after learning of their pregnancy, B. J. Hollars, his wife, and their future son endured the onslaught of an EF-4 tornado. There, while huddled in a bathtub in their Alabama home, mortality flashed before their eyes. With the last of his computer battery, Hollars began recounting the experience, and would continue to do so in the following years, writing his way out of one disaster only to find himself caught up in another. In this collection of personal essays, Hollars faces tornadoes, drownings, and nuclear catastrophes. These experiences force him to acknowledge the inexplicable while he attempts to overcome his greatest fear—the impossibility of protecting his newborn son from the world’s cruelties. Through his and others’ stories, Hollars creates a constellation of grief, tapping into the rarely acknowledged intersection between fatherhood and fear, sacrifice and safety, and the humbling effect of losing control of our lives.

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Page Count

180

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0253018218

ISBN 13

9780253018212

From the Mouths of Dogs

What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human

By: B.J. Hollars

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From the Mouths of Dogs

What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human

By: B.J. Hollars

What is it that dogs have done to earn the title of “man’s best friend”? And more broadly, how have all of our furry, feathered, and four-legged brethren managed to enrich our lives? Why do we love them? What can we learn from them? And why is it so difficult to say good-bye? Join B.J. Hollars as he attempts to find out—beginning with an ancient dog cemetery in Ashkelon, Israel, and moving to the present day. Hollars’s firsthand reports recount a range of stories: the arduous existence of a shelter officer, a woman’s relentless attempt to found a senior-dog adoption facility, a family’s struggle to create a one-of-a-kind orthotic for its bulldog, and the particular bond between a blind woman and her Seeing Eye dog. The book culminates with Hollars’s own cross-country journey to Hartsdale Pet Cemetery—the country’s largest and oldest pet cemetery—to begin the long-overdue process of laying his own childhood dog to rest. Through these stories, Hollars reveals much about our pets but even more about the humans who share their lives, providing a much-needed reminder that the world would be a better place if we took a few cues from man’s best friends.

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Page Count

225

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803284934

ISBN 13

9780803284937

Opening the Doors

The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa

By: B. J. Hollars

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Opening the Doors

The Desegregation of the University of Alabama and the Fight for Civil Rights in Tuscaloosa

By: B. J. Hollars

Opening the Doors is a wide-ranging account of the University of Alabama’s 1956 and 1963 desegregation attempts, as well as the little-known story of Tuscaloosa, Alabama’s, own civil rights movement. Whereas E. Culpepper Clark’s The Schoolhouse Door remains the standard history of the University of Alabama’s desegregation, in Opening the Doors B. J. Hollars focuses on Tuscaloosa’s purposeful divide between “town” and “gown,” providing a new contextual framework for this landmark period in civil rights history. The image of George Wallace’s stand in the schoolhouse door has long burned in American consciousness; however, just as interesting are the circumstances that led him there in the first place, a process that proved successful due to the concerted efforts of dedicated student leaders, a progressive university president, a steadfast administration, and secret negotiations between the U.S. Justice Department, the White House, and Alabama’s stubborn governor. In the months directly following Governor Wallace’s infamous stand, Tuscaloosa became home to a leader of a very different kind: twenty-eight-year-old African American reverend T. Y. Rogers, an up-and-comer in the civil rights movement, as well as the protégé of Martin Luther King Jr. After taking a post at Tuscaloosa’s First African Baptist Church, Rogers began laying the groundwork for the city’s own civil rights movement. In the summer of 1964, the struggle for equality in Tuscaloosa resulted in the integration of the city’s public facilities, a march on the county courthouse, a bloody battle between police and protesters, confrontations with the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, a bus boycott, and the near-accidental-lynching of movie star Jack Palance. Relying heavily on new firsthand accounts and personal interviews, newspapers, previously classified documents, and archival research, Hollars’s in-depth reporting reveals the courage and conviction of a town, its university, and the people who call it home.

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Page Count

301

Publisher

University of Alabama Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0817317929

ISBN 13

9780817317928

Midwestern Strange

Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country

By: B.J. Hollars

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Midwestern Strange

Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country

By: B.J. Hollars

Midwestern Strange chronicles B.J. Hollars’s exploration of the mythic, lesser-known oddities of flyover country. The mysteries, ranging from bipedal wolf sightings to run-ins with pancake-flipping space aliens to a lumberjack-inspired “Hodag hoax,” make this book a little bit X-Files, a little bit Ghostbusters, and a whole lot of Sherlock Holmes. Hollars’s quest is not to confirm or debunk these mysteries but rather to seek out these unexplained phenomena to understand how they complicate our worldview and to discover what truths might be gleaned by reexamining the facts in our “post-truth” era. Part memoir and part journalism, Midwestern Strange offers a fascinating, funny, and quirky account of flyover folklore that also contends with the ways such oddities retain cultural footholds. Hollars shows how grappling with such subjects might fortify us against the glut of misinformation now inundating our lives. By confronting monsters, Martians, and a cabinet of curiosities, we challenge ourselves to look beyond our presumptions and acknowledge that just because something is weird, doesn’t mean it is wrong.

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Page Count

225

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496216849

ISBN 13

9781496216847

Flock Together

A Love Affair with Extinct Birds

By: B.J. Hollars

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Flock Together

A Love Affair with Extinct Birds

By: B.J. Hollars

After stumbling upon a book of photographs depicting extinct animals, B.J. Hollars became fascinated by the creatures that are no longer with us; specifically, extinct North American birds. How, he wondered, could we preserve so beautifully on film what we’ve failed to preserve in life? And so begins his yearlong journey to find out, one that leads him from bogs to art museums, from archives to Christmas Counts, until he at last comes as close to extinct birds as he ever will during a behind-the-scenes visit at the Chicago Field Museum. Heartbroken by the birds we’ve lost, Hollars takes refuge in those that remain. Armed with binoculars, a field guide, and knowledgeable friends, he begins his transition from budding birder to environmentally conscious citizen, a first step on a longer journey toward understanding the true tragedy of a bird’s song silenced forever. Told with charm and wit, Flock Together is a remarkable memoir that shows how “knowing” the natural world—even just a small part—illuminates what it means to be a global citizen and how only by embracing our ecological responsibilities do we ever become fully human. A moving elegy to birds we’ve lost, Hollars’s exploration of what we can learn from extinct species will resonate in the minds of readers long beyond the final page. Watch a book trailer for Hollars’s newest book, Midwestern Strange.

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Page Count

224

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803296584

ISBN 13

9780803296589

Thirteen Loops

Race, Violence, and the Last Lynching in America

By: B. J. Hollars

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Thirteen Loops

Race, Violence, and the Last Lynching in America

By: B. J. Hollars

A vivid and troubling portrait of violence, lynching, and race relations over a fifty-year period in the state of Alabama.

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Page Count

262

Publisher

University of Alabama Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0817317538

ISBN 13

9780817317539

From the Mouths of Dogs

What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human

By: B.J. Hollars

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From the Mouths of Dogs

What Our Pets Teach Us about Life, Death, and Being Human

By: B.J. Hollars

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Page Count

225

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803284934

ISBN 13

9780803284937

Flock Together

A Love Affair with Extinct Birds

By: B.J. Hollars

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Flock Together

A Love Affair with Extinct Birds

By: B.J. Hollars

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Page Count

224

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0803296584

ISBN 13

9780803296589

You Must Be This Tall to Ride

Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story

By: B.J. Hollars

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You Must Be This Tall to Ride

Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story

By: B.J. Hollars

Compelling stories have the power to generate infinite wonder: It's nearly impossible to imagine how the author began, and yet we sense there's much more beyond the final word. It's this mystery–a combination of inspiration and craft, smoke and mirrors–that makes writing feel momentous. But it can also feel overwhelming, causing us to become small, scared, not quite ready for the "big" rides, such as finishing that story, that novel, and finding the courage to share it with the world. In You Must Be This Tall to Ride, you'll find 20 works of fiction and nonfiction by acclaimed contemporary authors, each offering fresh perspective on ''coming of age'' (a story to which we can all relate), as well as exclusive personal essays and practical exercises.In their own words, these writers grant you a guided tour of craft with unparalleled access to the process behind their creation, including how to: • grow a story from the seed of an image or sentence • allow experiments with language to lead you to plot • turn even the most unlikely characters into heroes • transform raw anecdotes from your own life into compelling fiction and essay Join 20 writers as we grow up and down, taking a rollercoaster ride in stories. You'll not only begin to understand what makes the wheels of a story turn, you'll also gain the tools and strategies to transform lost characters and runaway plots into the greatest show on earth. So go ahead, step right up. Listen for the calliope music, and take your place in line. Your ride has just begun.CONTRIBUTORS: • Steve Almond • Aimee Bender • Kate Bernheimer • Ryan Boudinot • Judy Budnitz • Dan Chaon • Brock Clarke • Michael Czyzniejewski • Stuart Dybek • Michael Martone • Antonya Nelson • Peter Orner • Jack Pendarvis • Benjamin Percy • Andrew Porter • Chad Simpson • George Singleton • Brady Udall • Laura van den Berg • Ryan Van Meter

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

1599633639

ISBN 13

9781599633633

Hope is the Thing

Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic

By: B. J. Hollars

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Hope is the Thing

Wisconsinites on Perseverance in a Pandemic

By: B. J. Hollars

In March of 2020, shortly after Wisconsin began receiving positive cases of COVID-19, writer and professor B. J. Hollars struck out to create a collaborative writing project to bridge the emotional distance created by way of our physical social distancing. Drawing upon Emily Dickinson's famous poem, "Hope Is The Thing with Feathers," Hollars put out a call for Wisconsinites to reflect on their own glimpses of hope in the COVID-19 era. The guidelines were simple: five hundred words or less, and a title that borrowed from Dickinson's format: "Hope is the Thing [Fill in the Blank]." The call resulted in an avalanche of submissions, each of which reflects on hope's ability to persist and flourish, even in the darkest times. The one hundred contributors represent a variety of backgrounds, from truck driver to poet laureate, from middle school student to octogenarian. They are racially diverse, geographically diverse, and culturally diverse, representing a rough cross section of Wisconsin voices. Some are seasoned writers, while others have never been published. The result is a book-length exploration of the depth and range of hope as its currently being experienced by Wisconsinites in the midst of this crisis, as well as an important record of what Wisconsinites are facing and feeling through these historic times"--

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Page Count

216

Publisher

Wisconsin Historical Society

Published Date

ISBN 10

0870209779

ISBN 13

9780870209772

You Must Be This Tall to Ride

Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story

By: B.J. Hollars

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You Must Be This Tall to Ride

Contemporary Writers Take You Inside The Story

By: B.J. Hollars

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Page Count

249

Publisher

Penguin

Published Date

ISBN 10

1599633639

ISBN 13

9781599633633

Midwestern Strange

Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country

By: B. J. Hollars

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Midwestern Strange

Hunting Monsters, Martians, and the Weird in Flyover Country

By: B. J. Hollars

Midwestern Strange chronicles B.J. Hollars's exploration of the mythic, lesser-known oddities of flyover country. The mysteries, ranging from bipedal wolf sightings to run-ins with pancake-flipping space aliens to a lumberjack-inspired "Hodag hoax," make this book a little bit X-Files, a little bit Ghostbusters, and a whole lot of Sherlock Holmes. Hollars's quest is not to confirm or debunk these mysteries but rather to seek out these unexplained phenomena to understand how they complicate our worldview and to discover what truths might be gleaned by reexamining the facts in our "post-truth" era. Part memoir and part journalism, Midwestern Strange offers a fascinating, funny, and quirky account of flyover folklore that also contends with the ways such oddities retain cultural footholds. Hollars shows how grappling with such subjects might fortify us against the glut of misinformation now inundating our lives. By confronting monsters, Martians, and a cabinet of curiosities, we challenge ourselves to look beyond our presumptions and acknowledge that just because something is weird, doesn't mean it is wrong.

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Page Count

249

Publisher

U of Nebraska Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

1496216822

ISBN 13

9781496216823

Sightings

Stories

By: B.J. Hollars

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Sightings

Stories

By: B.J. Hollars

B. J. Hollars's debut short story collection offers ten thematically linked tales, all of which are out to subvert conventional notions of the Midwestern coming-of-age story. The stories feature an assemblage of Bigfoot believers, Civil War reenactors, misidentified Eskimos, and grief-stricken clowns, among other outcasts incapable of finding a place in their worlds. In these marvelous stories, we can join a family on a very 21st-century trip along the Oregon Trail, watch as a boy builds a brother from a vacuum cleaner, follow a sandlot baseball team as it struggles to overcome an invasion by its Native American neighbors, and experience how a high school basketball squad takes to Sasquatch roaming its court. This genre-bending collection charts a bizarre pathway through the thickets of life on the road to adulthood. Pushing the limits of realism, these stories capture the peculiar rites of passage of growing up Midwestern.

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Page Count

181

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0253008387

ISBN 13

9780253008381

This Is Only a Test

By: B. J. Hollars

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This Is Only a Test

By: B. J. Hollars

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Page Count

180

Publisher

Indiana University Press

Published Date

ISBN 10

0253018218

ISBN 13

9780253018212

Wisconsin for Kennedy

The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History

By: B. J. Hollars

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Wisconsin for Kennedy

The Primary That Launched a President and Changed the Course of History

By: B. J. Hollars

The behind-the-scenes story of JFK’s 1960 Wisconsin primary campaign When John F. Kennedy ran for president in 1960, he did something no candidate had done before: he leveraged the power of state primaries to win his party’s nomination. Kennedy’s first battleground state? Wisconsin—a state that would prove more arduous, more exhausting, and more crucial to winning the presidency than any other. Wisconsin for Kennedy brings to life the stories behind JFK’s history-making 1960 Wisconsin primary campaign, and how Kennedy’s team managed to outmaneuver his politically seasoned opponent, Hubert Humphrey. From Jackie Kennedy commandeering a supermarket loudspeaker in Kenosha, to the Wisconsin forklift driver who planned President Kennedy’s final trip to Dallas, this captivating book places readers at the heart of the action. Author B.J. Hollars chronicles JFK’s nail-biting Wisconsin win by drawing on rarely cited oral histories from the eclectic team of people who worked together to make it happen: a cranberry farmer, a union leader, a mayor, an architect, and others. Wisconsin for Kennedy explores how Wisconsin helped propel JFK all the way to the White House in a riveting historical account that reads like a work of rollicking, page-turning fiction.

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Page Count

257

Publisher

Wisconsin Historical Society

Published Date

ISBN 10

1976600189

ISBN 13

9781976600180

Dispatches from the Drownings

Reporting the Fiction of Nonfiction

By: B. J. Hollars

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Dispatches from the Drownings

Reporting the Fiction of Nonfiction

By: B. J. Hollars

Disturbed by stories of drownings in the river behind his home in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, writer B. J. Hollars combed the archives of local newspapers only to discover vast discrepancies in articles about the deaths. In homage to Michael Lesy’s cult classic, Wisconsin Death Trip, Hollars pairs reports from late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century journalists with fictional versions, creating a hybrid text complete with facts, lies, and a wide range of blurring in between. Charles Van Schaick’s macabre, staged photographs from the era appear alongside the dispatches, further complicating the messiness of history and the limits of truth.

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