The Shape of the World (New Book), Rapping with Purple Kurt, and the Best Book You’ll Read This Year: “Still True”

Dear Friends and Readers,

I hope this finds you all well! I have a few quick things before we roll into the holiday madness.

The Shape of the World

First, I have a new collection of columns out called The Shape of the World: Essays on Travel, Culture, and Belief from Rotary Magazine:

These essays revolve around questions of culture, language, belief. They look at the power of travel to change the way we see the world. They explore the power of stories to change how we live in it. Along the way, I try to answer (or at least ask) questions like, “How do you be a good person?” “How can you cultivate wisdom?” and “What does it mean to have hope?”

Two of these pieces, “Beyond Belief” and “What Price Experience?” were selected as "Notable Essays" in the Best American Essays. Another, “Meeting Like This”, about why most meetings are a waste of time, received Folio Magazine’s Eddie & Ozzie Award for “Best Association/Nonprofit Column."

You can find the book at Amazon, Bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble and other places.

Still True

For those of you who love great stories, please check out Still True, by Maggie Ginsberg. On November 17 at Magers & Quinn, I’ll be in conversation with Maggie, whose new novel is getting rave reviews. You can register here.

Years ago, Maggie showed up in a class I was teaching in Madison on how to be a freelance writer. By the second class, she’d already written and published her first story, which is to say, she didn’t really need my help. She just needed someone to tell her what was possible.

Maggie is one of the best writers I know, and this book is as good as anything I’ve read by her. So come to the reading if you’re in Minneapolis. If not, treat yourself to the book:

Purple Kurt, Prince and Minneapolis

I had a fun conversation with “Purple Kurt” Hoffman, a Prince superfan who gave the stamp of approval to my Prince tour.

As you’ve no doubt heard by now, I have several audio walking tours about Minneapolis, including this tour of Prince’s Minneapolis. Now you can buy all three in a bundle, if that’s not too much Minneapolis, or me, for you: Explore Minneapolis with Frank Bures.

Other news

The Business of Healing

This story came out earlier this year, but just appeared online. It revisits the week following George Floyd’s death, the aftermath, and the rebuilding. The story looks at Rotary clubs in the Twin Cities working to help immigrant-owned businesses that were destroyed in the unrest: The Business of Healing:

The Epic Battle to Break the Mississippi River Canoe Record

Lastly, I was very happy to see my story, The Epic Battle to Break the Mississippi River Canoe Record make the list of “Notable Sports Writing of 2021” in the Year’s Best Sports Writing. Even if the full story isn’t in the anthology, it’s still a great acknowledgment, and the book is well-worth reading:

The Epic Battle also made this Outside list: “The Greatest Outside Adventure Stories Ever Told.” That was particularly gratifying, because I read some of these stories for inspiration while I was writing mine.

That’s it for now. Have a great rest of 2022, and we’ll be in touch next year!

Frank