Edina Author Wins Midwest Book Award

(Edina) – When Edina resident Robert Shaw heard his name called as the winner of a Midwest Book Award the evening of May 9, 2012, he made his way up to the stage and put on a show.

After accepting his certificate for winning the Humor category of the Midwest Book Awards for The Bachelor Slob in the Kitchen, the  90-year-old retired newspaper executive posed for a picture with Dorothy Molstad, president of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, then gave her a big kiss. Not once, but twice.

The crowd gathered at the Bloomington Center for the Arts, where the event was held, roared with laughter. In his book, Shaw describes the unique problems faced by all people who live alone – and his solutions to them.

For example, how to remove spots from clothing and the most efficient way to clean the house and do the dishes. “We bachelors need all the help we can get,” he says, “particularly we new and inexperienced bachelors. I want to caution readers, though: My book is not for bachelors who love to cook, who love to push that vacuum cleaner. It’s for bachelors who loathe to cook, loathe the housekeeping.”

Shaw started writing The Bachelor Slob in the Kitchen about five years ago, shortly after losing his wife of 54 years to cancer. “Virginia had taken care of pretty much everything for me when she was alive. She cooked, cleaned, did the taxes, even did the thinking for me,” says Shaw, who all of a sudden had to figure out how to do things for himself. He shares all he learned in his book.

The Bachelor Slob in the Kitchen retails for $15 and is available at bookstores everywhere, or it can be ordered online through BarnesandNoble.com, Amazon.com or Beaverspondbooks.com.

The Midwest Book Awards are sponsored by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association. The awards program recognizes books for their creativity in content and execution, overall quality and their unique contribution to its subject area.