Growing Up Lutheran

This lively and entertaining abridgment describes the German-Scandinavian Lutheran culture of the Northern Plains. By using the catechism as a model of sorts, Martin and Nelson, along with several others, paint a varied and delightful canvas. Although the substance is everyday life, the presentation is entertaining, at times even hilarious, yet in no way does it mock or parody. Martin and Johnson perform in a deadpan style that is never boring, while the supporting cast adds variety with a rich array of voices and delightful Scandinavian accents. Music is used to great advantage. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine


Two "100% Norwegian Lutheran farm girls" read a hilarious account of what it means to grow up worrying about Catholics, not dancing, and memorizing the Lutheran Catechism. Humorists in their late 50s, they alternate narrating the abridged production, sometimes accenting the segments by simultaneously saying "This is most certainly true" over the sound of organ or piano music. Sounding like two friends giving a talk at a Tupperware party, they're funny in a self-deprecating way that belies their sharp insights on Lutheran culture. The presentation is so wry and underplayed that you can't help but laugh at the way they talk, even when they're not saying anything particularly funny. T.W. (c) AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine