by MATT SEIFERT

Daily Staff Writer

If you are sick of the all too common stereotypes by which Midwesterners are consistently labeled, then come to Big Table Books tonight at 7:30 p.m. M.H. Dunlop, an assistant professor of English, will read from and talk about her new book, Sixty Miles from Contentment, which examines the truth about the culture and history of the Midwest.

Dunlop, who has been teaching English at ISU since 1967, based the book on more than 300 writings by travel writers including Charles Dickens, Margaret Fuller, Mark Twain and many lesser known authors and goes beyond the pioneer stereotypes to capture the true culture and experience of the 19th-century Midwest.

She was drawn to this time and place because she is fascinated by both the writings of the travel novels she read while teaching her 19th-century American Literature class (English 362) and their great differences from the stereotypes that even we apply to our ancestors.

Dunlop also commented on the great immediacy of the travel books that Sixty Miles is based upon; they paint a much more detailed picture and “not the simple, blurry, ‘heartland picture'” we may be used to, but rather one much more “complex and subtle.”

By the 19th-century, only the poles and the continental interiors were left to be examined, and the Midwest was the subject of intense exploration. By using the original works of explorer-writers, Dunlop aims for the true picture of the fascinating interior of the country.

Though the book is more of a socio-historical look at Midwest history and culture, it is also very humorous at times and very entertaining throughout, containing numerous light-hearted accounts of the people of the Midwest. These passages will be highlighted at the reading tonight.

The book, published by Harper-Collins of New York, is available at Big Table Books for $24, but it will be discounted 10% tonight for the reading