The movie Sweet Land is based on the short story 'A Gravestone Made of Wheat'. This story captures the emotions of America post WWI towards the German people and points out the frustration of emigrants trying to marry here. It is a beautiful story about love between two people enduring the political and cultural biases against them and how they overcome the odds and have a long life together. Will Weaver captures the heart and soul of rural Minnesota with love and the ease of someone who understands people and the land. ( )

Will Weaver is my favorite Minnesota author and Sweet Land: New and Selected Stories is a great collection of short stories. This book includes several stories from a previous collection called A Gravestone Made of Wheat. A Gravestone Made of Wheat (the title story) was adapted into a lovely film called Sweet Land. This book was released as a tie-in to the movie. The book contains A Gravestone Made of Wheat as well as several other stories found in the earlier book as well as some new stories. To me, the newer stories are good though perhaps not as good as the ones that come from the original anthology.

Weaver is intimately familiar with the geography and feel of western Minnesota, a familiarity that is evident in his work. As a native, the small towns and fields that Weaver describes are instantly recognizable. Weaver brings the same eye for detail to the people that inhabit the land. Weaver's best stories deal with the intertwining of the land and the people who live on it and how the two shape each other over time. For example, A Gravestone Made of Wheat traces the love affair of an immigrant Norwegian man and his mail-order German bride and how the two of them built a life together farming Minnesota's western prairie.

These are quiet stories about life that still moves to seasonal rhythms. Maybe my opinion is colored by nostalgia now that I live in suburbia but if you are drawn to the open prairie, consider trying Will Weaver's stories. ( )