Staff Review: Janesville: An American Story by Amy Goldstein

Janesville, Wisconsin is two hours east of Dubuque. It's a town of about 60,000 people that has traditionally had a strong economic base in the manufacturing sector, which for Janesville meant thousands of good-paying jobs, a strong union presence, and a fine community spirit with plenty of charitable giving. That rosy scenario began to change with globalization, outsourcing, the decline of union power, and other seismic economic shifts of the past few decades. What's amazing is that Janesville made it until 2008 before taking its hardest hit.

In her terrific book Janesville: An American Story, Amy Goldstein tells the story of the 2008 closure of the Janesville GM plant, which employed thousands of workers, many of them second and third generation GMers, people making $28 per hour and living solid middle-class lives. She also narrates the town's heroic attempts to shore itself back up (with mixed results).

Goldstein tells the Janesville story through the lenses of many of the individuals involved, from laid-off factory workers and their families to social workers and teachers, from affluent community business leaders to local and national politicians. Her focus on the fates of specific individuals -- and she follows them for many years -- brings the issue of middle-class decline into sharp relief. People are terrified and confused, kids go hungry, families are torn apart, the bankruptcy rate soars, one person commits suicide (the local suicide rate doubles after the closure). But there are heartening stories as well.

Goldstein effectively portrays the domino effect of just one plant closure: job losses and facility closures in other industries serving the plant, the overall plunge in local consumer spending, a sharp decline in charitable giving, mushrooming enrollment at re-training centers, an increased need for social services, and on and on and on. One unfortunate effect is a growing division in a once unified town between those who remain comfortable and those who fall. There's so much food for thought in this meticulous examination of one community and it's not all depressing despite the economic takeaway: those good wages are gone and it's anyone's guess if and when they'll ever come back.

Ann, Adult Services

Bingeworthy TV: Rizzoli & Isles

When Bones ended after 12 seasons, I didn’t know where to turn. I thought my days of enjoying a funny, suspenseful murder mystery show with well-developed characters and an engaging overarching plot were over. Little did I know, something even better was waiting for me! I fell in love with Rizzoli & Isles with the first episode.

Jane Rizzoli (Angie Harmon) is a homicide detective who works with medical examiner Maura Isles (Sasha Alexander) to solve crimes for the Boston Police Department. Before the show begins, the two are already best friends, and their deep care for each other is evident. That certainly helped me as a viewer become invested in both Jane and Maura very quickly, sharing these characters’ love for each other in spite of their quirks.

Jane is feisty, sarcastic, very good at her job as a detective, and can become grumpy when things don’t go her way. Maura is brilliant, fun-loving but socially awkward, and often has her head in the clouds, or in her science. Alone, each of these characters sounds like a boring trope, but together (as happens to most of us when our best friend is around), they are much more vibrant and complex. Maura helps Jane lighten up in spite of herself, and Jane helps Maura face reality even when it’s difficult. They continually poke fun at each other while still appreciating one another’s work, intelligence, and heart.

So much about this show makes its characters feel more realistic than others. It was refreshing to watch a formulaic mystery show featuring two female protagonists with a complicated, genuine friendship. I was also grateful to see that the characters on Rizzoli & Isles experience and process the trauma their jobs cause on-screen. From what I’ve seen, this is rarely done well (if at all) in violence-driven plots, and it makes the show much more relatable and believable.

The minor characters, too, contribute to the richness of Rizzoli & Isles. As someone who’s watched many movies and TV shows, I have a high standard for realistic fictional relationships, especially between family members, and this show blows all others out of the water. I loved watching Jane’s family bicker, watching friendships break and be mended, and watching police department office drama play out. And, of course, any good murder mystery show requires a little history of the setting (Boston), a couple of creepy serial killers, and mysterious back stories for a few characters. Rizzoli & Isles has it all!

Prepare to fall in love with Jane and Maura and their friendship. Then call me so we can cry together about the show ending so perfectly after seven seasons, and about how no other show could ever hope to be this good.

~Rachel, Technical Services

Bingeworthy TV: Eureka

The Syfy channel has long been my go-to stop for quirky television shows. Some are dark, some are just plain crazy, but every once in a while there are shows that combine funny with weird (in my world I call that quirky). Eureka happens to be one of those shows.

Jack Carter (Colin Ferguson), a U.S. Marshall, is driving through the Pacific Northwest with his delinquent teenage daughter, Zoe (Jordan Hinson), when he has a car accident. Jack and Zoe end up walking into the small, seemingly backwards town of Eureka to seek help. As it turns out, Eureka is anything but backwards, it is a town full of geniuses. President Harry S. Truman, with the help of Albert Einstein, created the town of Eureka to protect and nurture America's most valuable intellectual resources. Through a series of events, Jack becomes the sheriff of this small town and over the course of five seasons we learn that it doesn't take a genius to solve problems.

Every season of Eureka has an over-arching problem or mystery to be solved usually involving some sort of invention or top-secret technology. Each episode also has an event that takes precedence and often ties into the larger story. Watching Jack discover new things about Eureka and try to figure out life in a town full of high IQs (while being of "average" intelligence) is entertaining. Zoe, as a new girl attending a high-school full of geniuses, is a little bit harder to watch.

 
Jack spends the majority of his time with his deputy, Joe Lupo, and with Dr. Allison Blake. Allison is the liaison between the Department of Defense and Eureka. She is often at Jack's side when he has to troubleshoot problems that arise. Dr. Henry Deacon is a brilliant scientist who moonlights as a jack-of-all-trades. He quickly becomes Jack's closest friend. My personal favorite character is Dr. Douglas Fargo. When (not if) something goes wrong, Fargo is usually in the middle of it. Some of my favorite actors play regular or semi-regular characters in later seasons, including Wil Wheaton and Felicia Day. It is truly amazing how a town full of geniuses can do so many stupid things.

Early in season one, a character is digging for something in a dumpster and when he finds it he says "eureka". As cliched as that was, I laughed out loud.  Eureka ran from 2006-2012. Initially the show was picked up for a sixth season, then seemingly at the last minute it was announced that the fifth season would be the last.  One additional episode was ordered to allow the series to have a proper finale. Upon a recent re-watch, some of the technology doesn't seem so groundbreaking, but I still enjoyed the show almost as much as when it was first released. 

~ Amy, Adult Services