I don't think it'll surprise you any that I, too, am more likely to get my back up if someone slams the Midwest than if someone slams the US. The thing is, I don't really understand, on an emotional level, how someone could be an American the way I'm a Minnesotan or an Upper Midwesterner. It's just too darn big. It is really, really not the same to be in Austin or Berkeley as it is to be in Madison. And I just don't know how people can make that kind of connection with the whole thing.

I hope it's also clear that when I say you're very Midwestern or Superpowers is very Midwestern, it's something I find charming. It's not that I like all Midwesterners, obviously, but it's part of who you are, and it's part of what that book is. And in both cases I like how it's a part, if that makes any sense. If I have managed to phrase that without sounding like I am a) five years old, b) hitting on you, or c) (for maximum social bonus points!) a five-year-old who is trying to hit on you.

I think people who like me either have to like or decide to live with the Midwesternness and the Minnesotaness. I don't think it's something anybody could look up in the middle of a friendship and say, "Wait, you're from where? I never knew." And I think you're like that, too.