Lake Wobegon Summer 1956

By: Garrison Keillor

Narrated by: Garrison Keillor

Fourteen-year-old Gary, a self-described "tree toad" (lover of a perfect lawn, the soft-porn masterpiece of Carnal Cuties, his Underwood typewriter, and, above all, his rebellious cousin Kate), lives through one amazing Lake Wobegon summer. Gary preoccupies himself by spinning fantastic yarns about boogers, talking dogs, conversations between God and Jesus, and especially melodramas featuring himself as hero and Kate as distressed damsel. When the real Kate makes a terrible mistake, Gary learns a lot about love, heartbreak, and what it really means to rebel.

In his latest novel, Garrison Keillor describes the making of a writer who comes of age in classic Wobegon style. It's just what his fans have been waiting for: trademark wit, brilliant humor, great storytelling, and an extended stay in "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve".

©2001 Garrison Keillor (P)2001 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

"Keillor's deep voice and slow, deliberate diction transport the listener to this sleepy small town being shaken up by rock and roll.... Heartwarming, poignant, and hilarious." (AudioFile Magazine)

"Vacillating between poignant, endearing, outrageous, and mocking, this thoroughly engaging, frequently hilarious bildungsroman is narrated by the libidinous, iconoclastic 14-year-old wannabe writer Gary." (Publishers Weekly)

Superb

Garrison Keillor at his best. A delightful read, taking one nack several decades. Get lost in this one. It's delicious.

Not for everyone. Rated PG 14

Seems to be preoccupied, as a teenager would be, with the excessive sexual urges and innuendos the descriptiveness of which takes away from the plot. I have enjoyed Garrison's work on both the radio and in books, but would turn on the parental controls for this one. Many of the backgrounds are common to his work and a walk down memory lane for the targeted age group.

I appreciated the bodily function

Loved the types of fart. I thought they were real funny. A good one to listen.

Oddly Very Sexual and Meandering

My wife and I started listening on a road trip with our 17 yr old daughter. Had to change to a different book because of the odd sexual content care of a recurring naration of stories from a magazine called "High School Orgies".

My wife and I did end up listening to the rest of the book on our own, but even upon finishing the novel, we were left scratching our heads, wondering why it was so sexually explicit.

Not that we a prudes or anything, but the explicit sexuality didn't seem necessary nor did it seem to add to the story - a story which was very meandering and left us wondering what was the point of that. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love Keilor's writing style, creativity, and narration, but this one left us saying to each other "what was that about?"

As a Garrison Keillor fan I must say

This was another of his books and expected the usual entertaining and light content. It started off fine but before long every story covered his sexual longings with great details... got tired of it- went on to some other story with less of his wet dreams.