Fueled by an insider's view of Indiana and the state's often surprising connections to the larger world, IN Writing is revelatory. It is Indiana in all its glory: sacred and profane; saints and sinners; war and peace; small towns and big cities; art, architecture, poetry and victuals. It's about Hoosier talent and Hoosier genius: the courageous farmer-soldiers who ardently try to win the hearts and minds of 21st century Afghan insurgents; the artisans whose work pulses with the aesthetics of far-away homelands; and the famous modernist poet who had to leave to make his mark. It's about places that speak to a wider world: Columbus and its remarkable architecture; New Harmony and its enduring idealism; Indianapolis and its world-renowned Crown Hill cemetery. IN Writing makes visible the unexpected bonds between Indiana and the world at large.
Introduction
Part I. Saints and Sinners
1. The Last Vaudevillian: Red Skelton
2. Hubris: Bobby Knight
3. Odd Bodkin
4. D.C. Riddle
5. The Hoosier General: Lewis B. Hershey and the Selective Service
6. Herbie Wirth
7. Inner Vision: Amish Healer
Part II. Complicated Places
8. A Fair of the Heart
9. A Surprising Utopia
10. Architecture and Community
11. The Song of Indiana
Part III. Culinary Delights
12. 'Cook Good, Server Generously, Price Modestly': The Shapiro's Story
13. She's the Cheese
14. Strange Brew
15. Market Daze: Bloomington's Farmer's Market
16. Pawpaw Redux
17. Tibetan New Year Celebration
18. Lair of the Turtle Soup: a Culinary Tradition
Part IV. Artists and Their Craft
19. This Rash Adventure: Ezra Pound at Wabash College
20. Erotica Whose Purpose Was Scholarly: Kinsey Institute Art Exhibit
21. Gargoyles and other Pagans
22. Crossroads of American Sculpture
23. The Stuff of Legend: Indiana and the Empire State Building
Part VI. The Present Past
24. John Dillinger's Funeral
25. Twist the Tiger's Tail
26. That's It: Prohibition, 1918-1933
27. Black-Gold Era's Luxurious Perch: Evansville Petroleum Club
28. Lions, Tigers, High Wires
29. Conflict and Conciliation
30. Taliban in Indiana
31. War Fare
Credits
Index