J. Ryan Stradal is the author of Kitchens of the Great Midwest—his impressive debut novel that spent three weeks on the New York Times Extended List and was featured on the L.A. Times, IndieBound, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestseller lists.

Kitchens of the Great Midwest delves into the American heartland, sweeping the vast landscapes of Lutheran church bake-offs, chili-pepper eating contests, and the opening of deer season to capture the zeitgeist of the Midwest and the rise of foodie culture. It is a book about the family you lose, the friends you make and the chance connections that can define a life.

Stradal is a popular speaker with libraries and universities, sharing personal stories about growing up in the Midwest, the culinary traditions that inspired his book, and his unusual path to becoming a bestselling writer.

In addition to his novel, Stradal has some great literary credentials, editing the fiction section of The Nervous Breakdown and working as an editor for the Los Angeles-based independent publisher Unnamed Press. His writing has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, The Rumpus, The Los Angeles Review of Books, and McSweeney’s: The Goods, among other places. Stradal’s newest book, The Lager Queen of Minnesota, is a novel about an American family that is full of humor, heart – and the secrets of making a world class beer.

Born and raised in Minnesota, he now lives in Los Angeles and has worked as a TV producer, notably for the History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers and Discovery Channel’s Deadliest Catch.