THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY AND IOWA

309 Pages·2005·2.53 MB·English

ABSTRACT
Title of Dissertation: THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY AND IOWA:
PRODUCTION, RECEPTION, AND PLACE
Gregory R. Wahl, Doctor of Philosophy, 2005
Dissertation directed by: R. Gordon Kelly
Department of American Studies
The 1992 Warner Books novel The Bridges of Madison County, the first by
Robert James Waller, a University of Northern Iowa Management professor, was a
“surprise” success, marketed as literary fiction through a “word-of-mouth” campaign of
“handselling” in independent bookstores, which put it on the New York Times bestseller
list. Once the love story became a bestseller, the story of its popularity began to appear in
mass entertainment media, notably on National Public Radio’s “Morning Edition” and on
the Oprah Winfrey Show. It sold over ten million copies and became the fastest-selling
hardcover novel of its era. Bridges’ pretension to literariness touched a nerve with New
York cultural gatekeeping literary reviewers, who conflated its perceived sub-literary
qualities with its Iowa origins, middlebrow readership, and even cultural disease.
Readers, however, identified with and participated in the novel’s realistic frame narrative,
which constructed the story and its setting, Winterset, Iowa, as a text and place where
true love was made manifest. Bridges was parodied for its perceived sexism and
pretentious language. A movie adaptation was made by Clint Eastwood and Steven
Spielberg, and Bridges-related tourism changed the nature of Winterset’s economy and
community.
What can we learn about American culture from the unexpected, record-setting
sales success of The Bridges of Madison County, situated as it was on the boundaries of
art and popular culture and of local community and mass media? At each stage of the
book’s communications circuit—production, sales success, differing receptions by
reviewers and readers, and reintegration into the setting of Iowa—the case of The Bridges
of Madison County illustrates that cultural boundaries are contested and maintained in
part by invoking place and region, that the power of mass media depends on the
participation of individuals and local community, and that local communities will make
their own power in the face of, and out of, the power of mass media.
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY AND IOWA:
PRODUCTION, RECEPTION, AND PLACE
by
Gregory R. Wahl
Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the
University of Maryland, College Park in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
2005
Advisory Committee:
Professor R. Gordon Kelly, Chair
Professor John Caughey
Professor Michael Gurevitch
Professor Myron Lounsbury
Professor Nancy Struna
©Copyright by
Gregory R. Wahl
2005
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DEDICATION
For Charlie and Thelma Wahl
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Many people gave support, assistance, and encouragement that allowed me to
complete this study. At the University of Northern Iowa during the early 1990s—the
height of The Bridges of Madison County’s popularity—my professors Ted and Grace
Ann Hovet introduced me to the field of American Studies, and sent me off to the East
Coast with a Master’s in English, a copy of Tom Sawyer, and warm encouragement. Ted
also gave a talk about Bridges at the James and Meryl Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar
Falls that is quoted in this study. In addition, my conversations with Gail Moehlis and
Nadine Mortimer in the UNI English Department office piqued my interest in the topic.
Grant and Karen Tracey and Scott Cawelti arranged my introduction to Robert Waller,
which resulted in my interviewing him for this study. Their thoughtfulness is much
appreciated.
The generosity of the University of Maryland Department of American Studies,
especially R. Gordon Kelly, was also invaluable. Assistance from the Department
allowed me to travel to Texas in 2000 to gather the evidence presented in Chapter Four of
this study. More thanks to Valerie Brown in the American Studies office, who helped by
loaning me Bridges-related books.
Of course, a special acknowledgement goes to Robert Waller, who was gracious
with time and generous with information. This entire study is informed and enlivened by
his participation.
My colleagues at the University of Maryland, Trinity University, and
Montgomery College also contributed greatly to my preparation of this study. Nancy
Shevlin recommended works on publishing history. The support and forbearance of
Leigh Ryan, Robert Preston, Braden Hosch, and Paula Matuskey allowed me time and
energy to write. Montgomery College, Takoma Park Campus, Head Librarian Sarah
Fisher and her staff, especially Kathy Swanson, advised me on research.
The support and encouragement of my friends and family have kept me moving
forward. Dot and Jim Frendak encouraged me to keep working. Sue Fetter always helped
keep my spirits up. My mentor David Weinstein gave solid advice about how to approach
my studies and my life; he also read drafts at various stages, proofread, and kept me sane.
Rachel Weinstein gave invaluable help with document preparation.
Extra-special thanks to my parents Dr. Ralph Wahl and Jean Wahl, who have
always been behind me, and also out front, leading by their example and giving support
of every kind. Finally, Diane Frendak has been a partner in everything I have done during
the time I have been working on this project, from spending late nights with piles of
papers for the bibliogaphy to just listening. She is my true inspiration.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 1
CHAPTER ONE
Iowa as the Locale of Production for The Bridges of Madison County 19
CHAPTER TWO
The Marketing and Promotion of The Bridges of Madison County 73
CHAPTER THREE
Reading the Reviews of The Bridges of Madison County 137
CHAPTER FOUR
Reader Reception of The Bridges of Madison County 175
CHAPTER FIVE
Winterset, Iowa, and The Bridges of Madison County 218
EPILOGUE 264
1
INTRODUCTION
The 1992 Warner Books novel The Bridges of Madison County, the first by a
University of Northern Iowa Management professor named Robert James Waller, was a
“surprise” success, marketed as literary fiction by Warner Books through a campaign of
“handselling” in independent bookstores, which put it on bestseller lists. Once the love
story became a bestseller, the story of its popularity and its charismatic first-time author
began to appear in mass entertainment media in 1993, notably on National Public Radio’s
“Morning Edition” and on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Readers kept buying it, until it had
sold over ten million copies and, according to its publisher, become the fastest-selling
hardcover novel of all time (Maryles, “Behind the Bestsellers” August 7, 1995). At the
same time, it received scathing reviews from important literary publications. As the book,
its unlikely success, and its sentimental prose style became well-known, it was parodied
in Garry Trudeau’s Doonesbury and elsewhere. A movie adaptation was made by Clint
Eastwood and Steven Spielberg, and its setting, the real-life town of Winterset, Iowa,
added Bridges-related tourism as a major part of its economy as “pilgrims” began visiting
after reading the book and seeing the movie.
What can we learn about American culture from the unexpected, record-setting
sales success of The Bridges of Madison County, situated as it was on the boundaries of
art and popular culture and of local community and mass media? At each stage of the
book’s communications circuit—production, sales success, differing receptions by
reviewers and readers, and reintegration into the setting of Iowa—the case of The Bridges
of Madison County illustrates that cultural boundaries are contested and maintained in
part by invoking place and region, that the power of mass media depends on the
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participation of individuals and local community, and that local communities will make
their own power in the face of, and out of, the power of mass media.
Origins of the study
My parents, attending the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa, in the
early 1960s, knew Robert Waller as a fellow student, by all accounts a Big Man On
Campus. I was first-year Master’s student in English at UNI when the book came out in
1992. This study was born at that time in Baker Hall at UNI. In the 60s Baker was my
father’s men’s dormitory; it had been converted to English department offices by the time
of my student career. In the English office in 1992, we—professors, students, and
administrative staff—had frequent discussions about our reactions to the book and the
portrayal of Iowa in the national entertainment media gaze. We also gossiped about
Waller, with whom Master’s students in English were unlikely to have had contact, but
about whom we were learning from television and radio. I was one of the few people who
saw Waller at the threshold of B. Dalton Booksellers in the Cedar Falls mall in April
1992, waiting in vain for someone to buy his just-published first novel. I was struck with
Waller’s distinctive appearance: long gray hair, delicate facial features, slender six-foot
frame clad entirely in pressed blue denim, and Cuban-heel “Beatle boots.” Glancing at
his book on my way by, I surmised that it must be a history of covered bridges.
Two years later, when I moved to the East Coast, the book was on the best-seller
list and the Clint Eastwood movie adaptation was about to be released. At that time, the
book figured in my consciousness as one of the few things people knew about Iowa when
they learned I was from there. The fact that Iowa figures so strongly in critical and
personal reactions to the book became what interested me most about it. In his 1993 New
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Yorker review of Bridges Anthony Lane wrote that “nobody I know has read [Bridges].
Nobody I know even knows anybody who has read the book.” However, he allowed,
“that just means I travel in small, crabby circles.” My own circles must be significantly
less crabby than Rich’s, as it seems that nearly everybody I know has either read the book
or knows someone who has. Many of them liked it, although nearly everyone says that it
is the kind of book that just provides entertainment. I have found myself being careful to
issue the caveat that this study of Bridges is “not literary but cultural,” which reminds me
of the cultural issues bound up in the very mention of the book. At the same time, as an
Iowan by birth, it has seemed to me that the book was easy to criticize because of its
origins and setting in Iowa, and I admit to taking slight offense at that bias.
I have, of course, tried to ensure that the foci in this study, including those of
culture and place, are balanced and objective, but the experience of discussing the book
has made me realize that its existence means something to me as an Iowan, an American,
and a consumer of popular culture (even a “fan” of some types of popular novels and
popular music). So I began to ask, what does it mean to other members of such
communities, and to individual readers? Bridges presents an excellent opportunity to
explore such questions, sitting as it does at the intersection between popular culture and
literary culture, and between local/regional artistic production and national/global
marketing and distribution.
To that end, this work is intended as a factual history of The Bridges of Madison
County and its associated texts, discourses, and effects in America, and also as an attempt
to discern cultural meaning from that history. The study is organized according to Robert
Darnton’s formulation of the life of a book in his 1982 Daedelus article, “What is the