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Summary: A GREAT NOVEL FROM GARRISON KEILLOR!!!!
Review: It was a great revelation for me to stumble upon this book and read it in two sittings at Borders in Chicago, while visiting relatives. It was amazing to discover that in the age of computers and e-mail, someone in Lake Wobegon actually owns a fax machine! The townspeople's reaction to a gay couple was also interesting; I had been waiting for a long time for updates on Garrison Keillor's storytelling as I only get to tune in Prairie Home Companion once in awhile but loved Lake Wobegon Days, Leaving Home, and WLT. The storytelling style was confusing at first because I was used to hearing Mr Keillor describe his family in LW, but I had been waiting for a book about the Tollefson boy's further adventures, so this book was definitely welcome.
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Summary: A nostalgic return to Lake Wobegon. Keillor's best so far!
Review: Jon Tollefson returns to Lake Wobegon and returns us to familier places such as the Chatterbox Cafe, the Sidetrap Tap, Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility Catholic Church, and the Luteran Church where his brother-in-law, David Ingqvist, is now the Pastor. We meet old friends such as the bachler farmers, Clarence Bunsen of Bunsen Motors, and Bruno the fishing dog. This is Keillor's best work so far. My hope is that he will continue to take us back to Lake Wobegon and keep us in touch with our old friends and familier places.
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Summary: A return (of sorts) to the Wobegonian Utopia
Review: Keillor's novel is sharpest, and funniest, when the protagonist John Tollefson finds himself returning to Lake Wobegon. Those sections were so terrific, that I wished for a lot more of Wobegon, and a little less of the rest of the novel.
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Summary: An Existential Novel
Review: Keillor's novel was quite entertaining. But more than that, it was a look into the mind of a boy who becomes a man and struggles with the problems of existentialism. The boy is John Tollefson, from Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. Eventually he moves to upstate New York to manage a college radio station. He buys a house and fills it with possessions that would surely fill the nihilistic void in his soul. He works a comfortable job and drinks the best wines. He pursues the restaurant business. And he throws parties for his fellow coworkers and friends. But then at his fortieth birthday party, he realizes he has "no coherent life story." He says the same thing in a letter to Alida Freeman - a woman he meets at one of his parties and becomes romantically involved with - in which agonizes that "I am an idea of a person, a man in a blue suit. I need to have a life story. I want to do something noble, like get married and have babies. You're the one I want to have them with." An "idea of a person," an empty person enamored with "blue suits" and other material things, though none of these can possibly fill the void inside. Not a pure nihilist, though, John experiences fragments of things that transcend his material existence and give it meaning. He knows how beautiful classical music really is. He experiences the goodness of being in love with Alida. More importantly he discovers true meaning in the Christian values of his upbringing - these provide the moral compass for direction in life - things like nobility and integrity, his Grandfather a perfect exemplar. I am not sure if this was Keillor's intention, but in the end the book teaches us that when beauty, goodness and truth converge to make up the Bigger Picture, they encompass all the contexts of life and give us the necessary ink to write a coherent life story. Life - "It's better than I had any reason to expect," the book concludes.
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Summary: Mid-life Humor
Review: Like I suspect with other readers, my enjoyment with this book had a lot to do with identification to its places and characters. Born and raised in small town - leave to live in big city - come home again - yada. Being my first Wobegon book, I don't know the extent that Keillor reuses characters, but such continuity would also add to reader interest. The main character's family relationships were thoughtful, funny and at one point made me cry (a rarity). His new romance was sometimes confusing but satisfying. His wit and sarcasm about everything else was on target, especially from a guy's perspective. Gave me many chuckles I recommend this book to those aged from mid-life crises on, who have lived at least some of their life in a town where you can count on one hand the number cafés, bars, gas stations or traffic lights. For everyone else, if your only view of small town life is that of quirky, untapped artistic, unsophisticated-by-choice residents like those depicted in the old CBS series Northern Exposure, this book will give you a truer perspective. I probably won't go back and read Keillor's previous books in the series, but I would consider a sequel to this one.
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Summary: Typical Norwegian-Minnesotan Griping
Review: Like the protagonist of this book, I grew up in Minnesota and now live on the shores of Cayuga Lake in upstate New York. However, I'm Swedish, not Norwegian. A Swede, finding himself in the area, would join an adult hockey league, enjoy the beautiful outdoors, go fishing on the lake, drink too much on occasion, and generally have lots and lots of fun. Keillor's character sure misses out on a lot. I find upstate NY has many of the charms of Minnesota, just warmer, hillier, better food, and more people. Also, no wolves, so the deer are like rats. A good book. A Norwegian from Minnesota, planted here, would behave pretty much like Keillor's character. It's better to read about Norwegian-Minnesotans than to hang out with them.
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Summary: Entertaining, smart
Review: More stories of the stoic Norwegian Lutherans of Lake Wobegon from America's favorite humorist. I was amazed that a book with such a straight-man low key sense of humor was able to make me laugh out loud so many times. Some of the things (living in New York City, life in academia) I could relate with; in these areas I found his views funny and at times even insightful. More interesting, however, was the fact that I was so compelled by those things with which I have nothing in common (Scandinavian immigrant culture, Minnesota in general). Keillor is a great communicator who reaches across cultures. Although I'm familiar with Keilor from NPR, this is the first novel of his that I've read. One is forced to like the flawed protagonist John Tollefson; and I found myself appreciating the low-key dry humor of Minnesota Lutherans as well. An easy, entertaining read. Funny. Occasionally insightful. Recommended. A trivia note: in discussing Norwegian National Day Keillor gets the date wrong!
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Summary: Great Nordic Twilight...
Review: Probably the funniest, most entertaining book I've ever read, a 2000 Christmas gift to me from my youngest daughter. Garrison Keillor, writing about a ficticious Garrison Keillor (??) who lives a frustrating but interesting life that goes into middle ages with what his attractive girlfriend worries is their descent into the great Nordic twilight...
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Summary: Another Solid Outing By Keillor
Review: Reading a Garrison Keillor book (except for the bizzare Book of Guys) is like laying on a couch next to a fire under a comforter while the rain falls outside. Wobegon Boy continues the Keillor streak of writing "comfortable" literature. The characters are solidly defined, the dialogue is witty, and the situations that arise in the book are sharply told. There aren't any surprises in Wobegon Boy. The subject is one that Keillor has visited many times. But, then again, one doesn't buy a Garrison Keillor book to be surprised. One gets his books to rekindle the feelings of home and family that one possesses (or wishes they possessed) in their minds. And Wobegon Boy is more than adequate to meeting this task.
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Summary: Audio version is ABRIDGED
Review: Some disappointment with the AUDIO (cassette) version. It is an abridged version of the TEXT version. The text is read by the author, with at a much faster pace and more mono-tone, which is very different from his usual speaking style heard on radio (the latter has lots of pauses, cadenzas, variety of tones, pitches and speaking manners).
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