"Midwestern" Writers

Ah, those East Coast writers...Alan Cheuse's review of Kent Haruf's new Eventide in today's Chicago Tribune begins:

From Edgar Lee Masters to Sherwood Anderson, Midwestern writers have portrayed small-town America and its inhabitants with a certain affectionate ferocity. Novelist Kent Haruf has revived that tradition, except he has turned down the ferocity a great deal.

Almost five years ago, Haruf published "Plain-song," a rather humbly conducted, and quite ingratiating, depiction of several groups of appealing, small-town Colorado characters.

Huh? Colorado? Midwest? Based on his bio, Cheuse grew up in New Jersey and apparently hasn't lived any further west than Ann Arbor, Michigan. Cheuse's geographic bearings clearly echo the mindset depicted by Saul Steinberg's famous View of the World from 9th Avenue.