Eric Dregni crafts compelling narratives that explore the quirky and often overlooked aspects of culture and everyday life. His writing is characterized by keen observation, humor, and a deep appreciation for the peculiarities that make different societies unique. Drawing from his extensive travels and experiences, Dregni invites readers on journeys through diverse landscapes, uncovering the fascinating details that shape human connection. His distinctive voice offers a refreshing perspective, making his work both insightful and highly entertaining.
Hail Minnesota for its strange sites, bizarre history, and peculiar folks! Come along and climb the Witch's Tower, sit down in a two-story outhouse, and spend a night in the Drunk Tank at the JailHouse Historic Inn. Then go gape at the country's largest collection of underwear. After all that, relax at the Bowling Hall of Fame. This new paperback version of Weird Minnesota is a wild and wacky trip you'll never forget.
A journey to find Norway’s supposed bliss makes for a comic travelogue that asks, seriously, what makes Norwegians so damn happy—and does it translate?Norway is usually near or at the top of the World Happiness Report. But is it really one of the happiest countries on Earth? Eric Dregni had his doubts. Years ago he and his wife had lived in this country his great-great-grandfather once fled. When their son Eilif was born there, the Norwegian government paid for the birth, gave them $5,000, and deposited $150 into their bank account every month, but surely happiness was more than a generous health care system. What about all those grim months without sun? When Eilif turned fifteen, father and son decided to go back together and investigate. For the Love of Cod is their droll report on the state of purported Norwegian bliss. Arriving in May, a month of festivals and eternal sun, the Dregnis are thrust into Norway at its merriest—and into the reality of the astronomical cost of living, which forces them to find lodging with friends and relatives. But this gives them an inside look at the secrets to a better life. It’s not the massive amounts of money flowing from the North Sea oil fields but how these funds are distributed that fuels the Norwegian version of democratic socialism—resulting in miniscule differences between rich and poor. Locals introduce them to the principles underlying their avowed contentment, from an active environmentalism that translates into flyskam (flight shame), which keeps Norwegians in the family cabin for the long vacations prescribed by law and charges a 150 percent tax on gas guzzlers (which, Eilif observes, means more Teslas seen in one hour than in a year in Minnesota!). From a passion for dugnad or community volunteerism and sakte or “slow,” a rejection of the mad pace of modernity, to the commodification of Viking history and the dark side of Black Metal music that turns the idea of quaint, traditional Norway upside down, this idiosyncratic father and son tour lets readers, free of flyskam, see how, or whether, Norwegian happiness translates.
The Scooter Bible is an entertaining and authoritative photographic history of the little motorbikes that could, beginning with the first scooter in 1902 and continuing right through to modern electric scooters.
Die Vespa war von Anfang an weit mehr als ein preiswertes Transportmittel. Der Motorroller aus Pontedera brachte mit der gewonnenen Fahrfreiheit ein neues Lebensgefühl der Jugendlichen zum Ausdruck und wurde bald zur Kultmarke über Italiens Grenzen hinaus. Zahllose Prominente begeisterten sich ebenso dafür, egal ob Audrey Hepburn, Ursula Andres, John Wayne, Brad Pitt oder James Dean, nicht zu vergessen, die britische Mod-Szene in den 1960er Jahren! Motorlegenden. Das Buch bietet ein breites, buntes und kultiges Kaleidoskop mit viel Zeitkolorit und Lifestyle rund um den trendigen Motorroller aus Italien.