Winter's Song - by Td Mischke (Hardcover)

About the Book

Winter's Song embraces the deep relationship northerners have with the season. From tales of winter driving to its effect on spirituality, Mischke paints it with whimsical humor, breathtaking beauty, and cultural touchstones.

Book Synopsis

Winter's Song celebrates the intimate and intense relationship Americans living in the northern Midwest have with winter. The season is often viewed as an inhospitable time of year, accompanied by yearnings to fly south, yet Mischke invites us to view winter through the rich and varied lives of the hearty Northerners who have come to accept the season's extraordinary presentation--its hard lessons and hidden treasures.

While the other seasons have their place among these pages, winter takes center stage and is depicted as an otherworldly yet familiar Nordic realm, one that has profoundly influenced and shaped the people of the north. From amusing stories of winter driving, idiosyncratic fashions, and the inspiring experiences of children, to the effect winter has on spirituality, the health benefits of the cold, and the outsized role of the meteorologist, Winter's Song paints the season with whimsical humor, breathtaking beauty, ancient lore, and cultural touchstones.

But Mischke does more than tie winter to the denizens of the north. He holds a frosty mirror up to life itself and examines what it means to be human through the clarity and contrast winter provides. This exploration reveals the deeper meaning to be found in the fluttering snow, the sparkles cast from icicles, and the twinkling darkness overhead at night. Winter's Song isn't just a hymn. It's an ode that elevates the season to a living, breathing presence and passes its rich rewards to those who embrace it.

Review Quotes

"Winter's Song is an instant classic, and not just for those who live in the frozen north. TD Mischke uses poetry, prose, sarcasm, humor, and novelistic imagination to give a region, and a climate zone, lasting identity. The only thing as good as seeing these essays on the page would be hearing Mischke read them over the airwaves through the gelid winter skies."

- James Fallows, author and former national correspondent for The Atlantic

"Winter's Song taps directly into the beauty, the power, and the profound absurdity of a true Northern winter. As a Northerner who followed work to a warmer climate, TD Mischke brought back memories and feelings I'd let lapse. It's the book equivalent of smelling Mom's cookies baking in the oven. It's nostalgia, it's comfort, it's a hug. Like Mischke himself, Winter's Song is always thoughtful, often laugh-out-loud funny, and, once in a while, it makes your breath catch just a little."

- Rich Sommer, Hollywood actor (Mad Men, Devil Wears Prada, White House Plumbers, BlackBerry)

"Mischke presents us with a wonderful portrait of our most controversial season, from the frigid darkness to the responding human warmth. I will be reaching for this book every year as the days get shorter."

- Dave Simonett, lead singer and songwriter for Trampled By Turtles

"If Robert Frost had written prose, he would have written Winter's Song. But he didn't. Tommy Mischke did. And, Frost would be pleased."

- Don Shelby, Peabody Award winning journalist and author