To the cultural czars of the two coasts, America's heartland is frequently depicted as an amorphous, undifferentiated mass of land and people. Perhaps because the Midwest seems the most part of the United States.This volume is an attempt to examine the origins and nature of the unique Midwestern cultural phenomenon. Twelve experts examine individual states of the Midwest highlighting their singular features in seeking the 'personality' of each state. Each author, however, writes in a comparative context region bound together by commonalities of culture, much like the nation of which it is heartland.