A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere - by Todd Melby (Paperback)

About the Book

Go behind the scenes at this classic '90s film from cinematic masters Joel and Ethan Coen. Ya, you betcha, you're gonna discover some fascinating tidbits to celebrate the film's 25th anniversary.

Book Synopsis

Go behind the scenes of this classic nineties film from cinematic masters Joel and Ethan Coen. Yah, you betcha, you're gonna discover some fascinating tidbits to celebrate the film's twenty-fifth anniversary.

The 1996 movie Fargo stirred widespread curiosity about snowy winters, funny accents, and bloody mayhem on the frozen tundra of Minnesota and North Dakota. The film won two Academy Awards and inspired a popular, award-winning television series. It is also a quintessentially Minnesota film--or is it?

A Lot Can Happen in the Middle of Nowhere presents the untold stories behind the making of Joel and Ethan Coen's most memorable film. It explores the behind-the-scenes creative moments that made Fargo a critical and cultural success, including casting struggles, the battles over dialect, production challenges (a lack of snow), and insights from the screenplay and deleted scenes. Author Todd Melby examines to what extent the story was inspired by true events (as the film claims), and whether the Coens are trustworthy narrators of their own story. In addition to biographical details about the Coen Brothers, the book reveals what Fargo says about Minnesota and the Midwest.

Review Quotes

"This journalist and documentary producer is the perfect person to have documented the making of a great American film. I love this book."
LeonardMaltin.com

"Much like the movie it dissects, this book is quirky and intelligent, with surprising revelations. A treat for cinephiles and fans of the Coen brothers."
Library Journal

"This book will give you a glimpse into some of the thousands of questions Joel and Ethan [Coen] had to answer, and you will delight in how masterful their answers were."
From the foreword by William H. Macy, actor

"Fargo changed my life. And this book recounting the making of this amazing film brings back such fond memories. But more than that, I learned things about the making of the film I never knew. It is filled with stories that bring to life the wonderfully rich and chaotic journey of this Coen Brothers' masterpiece from screenplay to screen. Anyone will love reading about it. You betcha!"
John Carroll Lynch, actor (Norm Gunderson in Fargo)