Bender's new Book Sells out

"Bender's new Book Sells out."Ashley Tribune, 5 December 2001, 3 & 7.

Rush is on to get second printing out

"Its not poetry--it's better...Bender's columns are perfect...If Bender doesn't leave you laughing or crying--maybe a little of both--then you're a tough case."
--Kris Jensen, Grand Forks Herald

What sophomore jinx? North Dakota author Tony Bender's follow-up to his first regional best selling book is already in its second printing, three weeks after its release.

The Great and Mighty Da-Da follows on the heels of Bender's regional best-seller, Loons in the Kitchen, which was published a year ago and is now in its second printing.

Bender's book has been buoyed by extensive coverage from newspapers and radio and television stations.

Bender has a way of arranging the same words that you and I use very day--but what he does is different. It's not poetry--it's better..." said Kris Jensen of the Grand Forks Herald.

"Bender's columns are perfect. They do what a good piece should do: hook the reader right from the first words, ferrying him along till the writer is ready to set him down. Some of Bender's work is laugh-out-loud funny; more pieces than I expected made me cry. But in all of them, I saw real life, real emotion and all-too-familiar situations. If Bender doesn't leave you laughing or crying--maybe a little of both--then you're a tough case."

Both of Bender's books offer humorous and poignant insight into life in the Dakotas--stories about family, larger-than life small town characters and Bender's unique view of the world.

"Bender captures the small-town rhythms of farming frugality and generous community spirit in his writing," Jomay Steen, Sioux Falls Argus Leader, said.

Established in 1991 as a columnist, Bender's column is carried in a score of papers and has garnered eight first place awards in newspaper association contests since then, including a first place award as Best Humor Columnist by the National Newspaper Association this year.

While humor is a staple of Bender's offerings, he may even be a better serious writer with stories that dig deep into the emotions of his subjects.

"It's been said that journalists provide a mirror of life. Tony Bender changed that rule by paying not so much attention to what's in the mirror as what's inside it. His subjects du'jour range from side-splitting humor to tear-inducing drama. What does his effect produce? Sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes poignant but always enjoyable reading," says Roger Bailey, executive director of the North Dakota Newspaper Association in his review of Da-Da.

Bender says much of his inspiration as a writer came from the great Wayne Lubenow who blazed the trail in North Dakota as a columnist for many small newspapers.

"He was funny. He was wry. He was typically North Dakotan," Bender remembers, "and yet he could write from the heart. I think that's where I got the idea that you didn't have to be locked in as a writer as just a comedian or as just a serious writer.."

The Great and Mighty Da-Da, contains a two new serious pieces, never before published.

One of them, Ryan's Hope opens the 208 page soft cover book. It is the riveting account of an Indiana boy's courageous struggle with a rare disease, a North Dakota funeral director and the vintage 1967 Camaro that paralleled their lives and ultimately connected them.

Jarrod Niedermyer of the Brookings Register called the piece "One of the best feature columns you'll ever read--bar none."

Bender has recently launched an informal-e-mail newsletter of "smart-alek commentary" to those who request it at redhead@drtel.net.A new web site, tonybender.com, is on line as well.

Bender, and his wife Julie, co-publisher and editor of the Wishek Star, have two children. India, l, inspired the title with her unbridled favoritism toward her mighty da-da. Dylan, 5, just started kindergarten, an event touchingly recounted in the new book.