A series of thoughts, reflections, and stories about place.

Description

This project was completed as part of the DailyLit Externship Program.

A project about history and memory, loss and reclamation, and dreams, Our Towns explores the connection between how we live and where we live, the reasons behind why we love where we live and, if we don't, how we eke out every bit of goodness while making the best of it. From an English teacher's ode to small-town life in the Czech Republic, to the possibility of cemeteries as zones of entertainment, this series shows there's no wrong way to use, reinvent or celebrate our cities and towns.

Fans of Bill Bryson's fly-in-the-guidebook travel writing and Joan Didion's peerless essays on place will find a similar tone of irreverent awe in these installments. If you hear the phrase, "If you can make it in New York, you can make it anywhere," and wonder what goes on in the "anywhere," welcome to Our Towns. You'll feel right at home.

Table of Contents

Preface

Is There A There, There?
- Gertrude Stein on the absence of place.

Chicago: Sin City?
- Damn a city once, damn it forever.

Your Town In Six Words
- Take the challenge!

Five Things to Love About Detroit
- Lest you think ONE thing is a stretch ...

Rabbits in Logan, Rabbits in Flint
- Rabbit stories from two cities with very different results.

That's A Pretty Nice Haircut
- Go beyond the barber pole.

Excuse Me, Is This Sugartown?
- A search for the real New Orleans.

Don't Live So Close to Me
- Can poor living conditions lead to violence?

All Signs Point to NC
- A tour of Mooresville, NC, through its signs.

Exile in Novy Bydzov
- An ex-pat in love with his host city.

The Safest Place
- Don't fear the cemetery.

A Small Town on the Silver Screen
- Filming on location and getting the details right.

Placecasting with Jeff Jones, Part 1
- Learn about the new field of placecasting from its creator.

Placecasting with Jeff Jones, Part 2
- Now that you know a little about placecasting, here's how to get started.

Extended Copyright Information

Copyright 2010 by Matt Weston. All rights reserved.

Back to top

About the Author

Matt Weston grew up in Michigan and now lives in Brooklyn, NY. His work has been published in New York Press and Slice Magazine's Slices of Life blog. You can find him at Our Towns blog and on Twitter.

Learn more about this author.

Back to top

Opening Lines (Experimental)

I started this project because, like many young people in this country, I live far from home. And I miss it. It is not just my friends and family I miss—but, of course, I miss them, too. There is something about home, or any beloved place, that gets in your blood—the daily rhythms, the ...

Back to top

Copyright

Copyright 2010 by Matt Weston.

All Rights Reserved.

Back to top