TWAIN HARTE, Calif. — More Taste Than Fortune Books will publish Embracing the Local: Extension Cords and All by Glen Cantrell on November 10, 2026. The memoir asks a question most towns answer by accident: what does it take to keep a small community going, and who ends up doing it?
Cantrell didn’t set out to find out. A visit to a wine bar in Twain Harte led to the board of an all-volunteer Chamber of Commerce—and eventually to its presidency. What followed included small-town politics, damaged Christmas trees, parade fees, businesses still recovering from a bad winter, and volunteers whose willingness to help quietly became the expectation that they always would.
For an organizational strategist, the problems looked familiar. Serving the place he called home made them personal.
“I spent years in the private and public sectors helping organizations manage change,” Cantrell said. “I wasn’t prepared for how much an all-volunteer Chamber in the Sierra Nevada would change me. Leading and helping turned out to be two very different things.”
Kirkus Reviews describes Cantrell’s voice as “conversational, wry, and sharply observant.” The review is scheduled to appear in the December 1, 2026 issue of Kirkus Reviews magazine. The book was reviewed in the October 2026 issue of Midwest Book Review, named an October Pick of the Month by Donovan’s Literary Services, and named to the 2026 Hearten Book Awards Long List.
The memoir speaks to anyone who has volunteered, tried to improve the place they live, or wondered why the same few people seem to do everything. For readers who want to bring those questions to a group, the free reading and facilitation guide, Questions Worth Arguing About, includes discussion questions and a ninety-minute session plan for book clubs, libraries, Chamber boards, and civic organizations.
Embracing the Local: Extension Cords and All will be available in paperback for $18.99 and eBook for $8.99. The 154-page paperback (ISBN 9798996901005) is available to bookstores and libraries through Ingram at a 55 percent wholesale discount, fully returnable. Preorders are available through independent bookstores, Bookshop.org, and other retailers.
Review copies, cover art, author photography, and a press kit are available at moretastethanfortune.com/trade.
About Glen Cantrell
Glen Cantrell is an organizational strategy and technology delivery consultant and president of the Twain Harte Area Chamber of Commerce. Born in the Missouri Ozarks and raised in a small Kansas town, he served in the U.S. Army as a Russian linguist before building a career across technology, government, nonprofits, and consulting. He lives in Twain Harte with his husband, Michael, and three dogs.
About More Taste Than Fortune Books
More Taste Than Fortune Books is an independent publisher based in Twain Harte, California, founded by Glen Cantrell in 2026 and named for Diderot’s warning to those with more taste than fortune. Embracing the Local: Extension Cords and All is its first book.