Rating: 
Summary: One of Keillor's best
Review: "WLT" offers an entertaining blend of humor and pathos, with a memorable cast of characters. The story chronicles the life of a Midwestern radio station from the early days of radio to the advent of television, which brought about radio's downfall. "WLT" is a marvelous period piece which transports the reader back to radio's golden age which, in many respects, was also America's golden age. I would highly recommend this book to any reader, as it undoubtedly ranks among Keillor's best.
Rating:
Summary: Earthy and bawdy, but funny!
Review: "It ain't Lake Wobegon," Garrison Keillor told an audience before reading from WLT: A Radio Romance, and it sure ain't. The book is largely a history of the imaginary radio station WLT, which began as a way of advertising a floundering sandwich shop (the call letters stand for "With Lettuce and Tomato"). And the hero of the piece, the young boy whose dream is to run away and join "the show business" by being on the radio, turns out to be flawed and very human. Lots of vulgarity here, lots of bawdy or bathroom jokes, but if you're in the right mood, it's hilarious. Maybe it ain't Lake Wobegon, but it's definitely Midwestern, and it assesses the hijinks of its characters with a tolerant, forgiving eye--and ear
Rating:
Summary: One of Keillor's best
Review: "WLT" offers an entertaining blend of humor and pathos, with a memorable cast of characters. The story chronicles the life of a Midwestern radio station from the early days of radio to the advent of television, which brought about radio's downfall. "WLT" is a marvelous period piece which transports the reader back to radio's golden age which, in many respects, was also America's golden age. I would highly recommend this book to any reader, as it undoubtedly ranks among Keillor's best.
Rating:
Summary: Touching and real look at an important, historical era
Review: Between the simplistic picture painted by WWII newsreels and the overwrought, angst-induced symbolism that drips from the Hemingways and Fitzgeralds, lies reality as it was known in the American Midwest in the 1940s. That reality, in terms touching, startling, and three-dimensional, can be found in WLT: A Radio Romance. The book focuses primarily on two brothers who found and operate a small radio station, and their efforts to accommodate the unique sensibilities of their novice listeners. Keillor deftly mixes and describes a collection of fallible and loveable personalities so dear that when the book comes to its close, you'll feel as if a group of close friends has left you.
Rating:
Summary: An ecxellent but overlooked novel
Review: Garrison Keillor is better known for his Lake Wobegon stories, adapted from his radio monologues. These are charming enough, but I've always preferred his stories about radio, such as those found in "Happy to Be Here" (e.g., "WLT, the Edgar Era," "The Tip-Top Club," etc.).In "WLT: a Radio Romance," Keillor reworks some of these stories into a novel telling the story of two Minneapolis restaurant owners who start a radio station to promote their struggling business, and see it through from the mid-1920's to the dawn of television - the Golden Age of Radio. Alongside this are tales of others, including a boy from rural North Dakota whose fascination with radio draws him, without his even knowing it, toward a career in broadcasting. By Keillor's standards, this is a somewhat raunchy book. There is lots of strong language (more than enough to make a Minnesota mom blush), and planty of sexual shenanigans. But there is still a sweetness and an innocence that you might expect from Keillor. And the book is so well written, it really pulls you in. Of all Keillor's books, this one is easily my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: An ecxellent but overlooked novel
Review: Garrison Keillor is better known for his Lake Wobegon stories, adapted from his radio monologues. These are charming enough, but I've always preferred his stories about radio, such as those found in "Happy to Be Here" (e.g., "WLT, the Edgar Era," "The Tip-Top Club," etc.). In "WLT: a Radio Romance," Keillor reworks some of these stories into a novel telling the story of two Minneapolis restaurant owners who start a radio station to promote their struggling business, and see it through from the mid-1920's to the dawn of television - the Golden Age of Radio. Alongside this are tales of others, including a boy from rural North Dakota whose fascination with radio draws him, without his even knowing it, toward a career in broadcasting. By Keillor's standards, this is a somewhat raunchy book. There is lots of strong language (more than enough to make a Minnesota mom blush), and planty of sexual shenanigans. But there is still a sweetness and an innocence that you might expect from Keillor. And the book is so well written, it really pulls you in. Of all Keillor's books, this one is easily my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: An ecxellent but overlooked novel
Review: Garrison Keillor is better known for his Lake Wobegon stories, adapted from his radio monologues. These are charming enough, but I've always preferred his stories about radio, such as those found in "Happy to Be Here" (e.g., "WLT, the Edgar Era," "The Tip-Top Club," etc.). In "WLT: a Radio Romance," Keillor reworks some of these stories into a novel telling the story of two Minneapolis restaurant owners who start a radio station to promote their struggling business, and see it through from the mid-1920's to the dawn of television - the Golden Age of Radio. Alongside this are tales of others, including a boy from rural North Dakota whose fascination with radio draws him, without his even knowing it, toward a career in broadcasting. By Keillor's standards, this is a somewhat raunchy book. There is lots of strong language (more than enough to make a Minnesota mom blush), and planty of sexual shenanigans. But there is still a sweetness and an innocence that you might expect from Keillor. And the book is so well written, it really pulls you in. Of all Keillor's books, this one is easily my favorite.
Rating:
Summary: No one will ever write a book like this about television
Review: Garrison Keillor is without doubt one of the great American storytellers of our tellers. But he doesn't just spin yarns -- he relates entire short stories, with fully developed characters, proper pacing, and slyly nuanced dialogue. He's also a master of the dryly witty digression. Most of his fans know him from Prairie Home Companion and "The News from Lake Woebegon," but this book -- arguably his best -- shows another whole side of his talent, focusing on the obvious love of his life: radio. The interwoven chapters of this book, in fact, originally appeared as short stories. They tell of the founding of Station WLT in Minneapolis by the Soderbjerg brothers in 1926 in an effort to boost patronage of their luncheonette, how radio took over their lives once they reluctantly accepted commercials, how the Golden Age of "radiation" in their rented studios in the Hotel Ogden made them wealthy, and how an entire generation of performers, announcers, engineers, writers, and office workers spent most of their lives there, loving the job and hating it, and loving and hating each other. Some scenes really stand out, like Dad Benson's handling of the news from Pearl Harbor in 1941; Francis With, fresh from North Dakota, landing a job as general flunky; Francis's encounter in the Green Room with child star Marjery Moore; the depiction of the antics in the baseball field press box; the reactions of a group of performers to a very suggestively written script; and, finally, the brainstorm of an ambitious biographer in the very last chapter. The fifty years of friction between Ray and Roy Sr. is a hoot, the imaginings of Patsy Konopka about her upstairs neighbor are delicious, and the adventures of the gospel-singing Shepherds on a punitive road tour are both sad and hilarious. Some readers have been upset by the discovery that Keillor actually knows some profanity and considers sex funny, but that's a very shortsighted view. But these are just people and you can't help liking most of them, even the venal ones. The author knows the truth, too, about the demise of radio: "Radio was a dream and now it's a jukebox. It's as if planes stopped flying and sat on the runway showing travelogues." Great stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: The evolution of small yet interesting country radio station
Review: I found this book to be a eazy and relaxing read. I sat back in my room and drifted away to a less hectic time. I found myself tuning into the station (WLT) everytime I picked up the book. The authors little extras such as the name WLT and people like Donna La Donna add a special touch to this book. I strongly suggest this book be added to your collecting right away.
Rating: 
Summary: wfoul a radio flop
Review: I have always liked Keillor's radio shows and was looking forward to reading WLT a Radio Romance which was given to me by a friend. If I had not wanted to offend my friend who recommended it highly I would never have finished it. I thought it was one of the most gratuitously crude books I have read in a long time. Perhaps I am just a thick skinned New Yorker but I found nothing touching or sweet about it. None of these mitfits evoked my sympathy; they all deserved each other. The only really comical chapter was the final one which made me laugh out loud. But then perhaps I was just happy to have finally reached the end of a very dark, depressing, disappointing and disgusting book.
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