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Douglas Armato has been in the publishing business since 1978, but when he moved here three years ago from Johns Hopkins University he had never seen anything like it—Minnesotans and their love for books. The director of the University of Minnesota Press is also amazed by the dedication of our faculty members who sit on review boards, critically and academically evaluating whether, as Armato says, a manuscript "is worthy of the name Minnesota on the spine."

Armato recently cleared up several misconceptions about university presses, such as "Don’t they publish only dry academic works?" It turns out that 60 percent of what the University Press publishes is scholarly but appeals to a general audience. It has to, because the University Press is expected to be self-sustaining, with only 2.2 percent of its budget coming from the University. That’s why last year 60 percent of its 110 titles sold in bookstores. (It also sells psychological tests, including the world’s most widely used personality profile, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, not to mention three journals.)

The subjects are varied and interesting: cyber culture, foot binding in China, shirts worn by Plains Indians, a history of tragedy at sea, and my favorite, the cultural influences of art, beer, advertising, dance, sport, shopping, the Web, and media.

Founded in 1925 to prove that scholarship here in the Midwest was as good as any in the Ivy League, the University Press today has a national reputation for being on the cutting edge in cultural and literary theory. For many, the press serves as an academic bellwether of what’s hot and what’s not. "A lot of [university] presses watch us," says Armato. "Sometimes we guess wrong, but we try to always be moving on to fresher things" ahead of the pack.

It may surprise you to learn that University Press authors aren’t just from Minnesota. There are professors from other schools, like Northwestern, Vermont, and—heaven forbid—Macalester and St. Thomas! University presses specialize, so if you want to print a scholarly book on folklore, go to Indiana University. If you want the best in urban sociology and post-Colonial history, it is right here at Minnesota. The University Press also has strong regional titles on everything from Minnesota’s geology to its roadside attractions.

While university presses often publish on topics and ideas that commercial publishers won’t touch, the Association of American University Presses says that other than during the Great Depression, "it would be difficult to conceive a period more challenging to survival" of collegiate presses than right now. Industry observers say that, in terms of leading-edge scholarship, the United States has four great university presses, but only one of them is at a public institution: Minnesota.

In the future the University Press wants to build more local and cultural partnerships and to be a resource for Minnesota citizens. Armato notes that right now there is no definitive history of the Twin Cities, a book he would very much like to publish.As you can tell, we love books too. This edition of Minnesota magazine marks the ninth consecutive year of our summer books selections. Editor Shelly Fling has done a fabulous job of pulling excerpts of interesting pieces. This year’s roundup includes two novels set in the Minneapolis and St. Paul of yesteryear, and the most inspiring memoir I’ve read in a long time, by alumnus and former governor Elmer L. Andersen. Enjoy.—