KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST

KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST is the story of Eva Thorvald, a girl blessed with a once-in-a-generation palate, who overcomes a traumatic childhood to become the mysterious chef behind the most difficult dinner reservation in the country. When their families are torn apart, Eva and the other characters attempt to make Midwestern traditions and trends—from ancient Scandinavian delicacies to hydroponic chile peppers and pop-up supper clubs—their solace and salvation.

Similar to Jim Gavin’s blue-collar tales or Lorrie Moore’s Midwestern stories in tone, and to Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge in structure, each chapter of the 90,700-word novel tells the story of how a different Midwestern dish or ingredient—including lutefisk, walleye, and sweet corn—came into this young woman’s life and altered the course of her future.

At turns humorous, dark, and compassionate, with Lutheran church bake-offs, ghost pepper chili-eating contests, the opening weekend of Minnesota deer season, and over a dozen recipes, Eva's life in ingredients culminates in an opulent, emotional feast where she's confronted by a devastating presence from her distant past.

At its heart, KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST is a novel about how the food in our lives makes us who we are, and how our perspective on what we choose to eat shapes the world around us and affects the people we love.

J. Ryan Stradal is a Minnesota native who, besides editing the fiction section of The Nervous Breakdown with Gina Frangello, writes regularly for The Rumpus, and has otherwise been published in Hobart, the Los Angeles Review of Books, The Rattling Wall, McSweeney's Internet Tendency, and many other places besides. My collection of short fiction was a finalist in the 2013 Dzanc Books Short Story Competition, and he's currently editor of the 2014 California Prose Directory, an anthology that will include work from Aimee Bender, Jerry Stahl, Jim Gavin, Dana Goodyear, and other California writers. He also produce a culinary & literary series in Los Angeles called “Hot Dish,” which combines live readings with themed food and wine spreads. To top it all off, J. Ryan is a producer on theHistory Channel’s TV show “Ice Road Truckers” and was previously on Discovery Channel’s “Deadliest Catch."