NPR Road Trips: Fairs and Festivals: Stories That Take You Away . . .

by NPR Narrated by Noah Adams

Overview

From butter sculptures to deep-fried beer, swine races to pickle politics, NPR presents the biggest, best, and weirdest sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of America's annual ritual.

Step right up as the gates swing open at fairgrounds across the USA. This delightful collection explores the unique joys of the public gatherings that take place in cities and small towns, when people of all stripes and sizes meet to gawk at cows, ponder seed art, get hypnotized, compete in husband-calling contests, and eat virtually anything on a stick.

Farming, food, politics, parades, shilling, glad-handing, people-watching, and silliness are celebrated here. If you've been to a fair or festival, you'll love this collection. If you haven't, here's what you've been missing.

Contents:

Introduction by Noah Adams

Garrison Keillor at the Minnesota State Fair

Postcard: Texas State Fair

A Break from Politics at the County Fair

Hard Work, Some Play at the Iowa State Fair

Swine Bring “Olympig” Racing to County Fairs

Postcard: Collectibles at the Fair

“Lovey” Replaces “Sooey” in Husband-Calling Contest

The Minnesota State Fair on a Stick

Voices from the National Cornbread Festival

Iowa's Butter Cow Lady

Competitive Wood Chopping in West Virginia

Mountain View Folk Festival

Melvin the Human Blockhead

The Phelps of Food Canning

The Funnel Cake King

On the Midway: A Fairbanks Carnival

Lost and Found Sound: Carnival Talkers

Editorial Reviews

MAY 2012 - AudioFile

After Noah Adams’s brief introduction, this collection of NPR features starts off with Garrison Keillor's comments about the crowds people have to brave if they actually go to a fair. Listeners don't have to, though. They can sit back and hear the sounds of the Texas State Fair; an interview with a human blockhead, which includes an aural demonstration that could make some squeamish; correspondents' memories; and interviews with fiddlers and funnel cake purveyors. There's even a look at the original agricultural intent of fairs. Except for 10 minutes on "The Art of the Carnival Talker," features go by quickly. That makes for an easy listen, but some listeners will want more detail. J.A.S. 2013 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170070121
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	06/05/2012
Series:	NPR Road Trips
Edition description:	Unabridged

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