NEW AND NOTABLE BOOKS JUNE 2021
A LOT CAN HAPPEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE MAKING OF FARGO by Todd Melby; foreword by William H. Macy (Minnesota Historical Society Press) Despite the pedigree of its publisher, this book is not an academic treatise. The author is a Coen Brothers fanatic who has spent years examining every detail of their career and Fargo in particular. “In writing this book,” he explains, “I traveled to Los Angeles to read multiple drafts of the screenplay. I talked to actors who got their big breaks in Fargo, and a few who didn’t. I talked to a stuntwoman who bashed her head into a doorjamb while blinded by a shower curtain. I learned about the cassette tapes Ethan gave the film’s dialect coach, then…