Dan Barry is someone I have raved about here before. IMO he is the best newspaper reporter in America. He has a dream beat, writing about what catches his fancy anywhere in the U.S. This one is as good as any of his I can remember. It is set in Elyria, Ohio, a place of about 25,000 people not far from Cleveland. It can go straight into the time capsule: middle America in the new century. It's long but I don't think you will mind.
One of the things I admire about him is he gets the job done with telling details rather than jamming the gas pedal to the floor.