Book: Lake Wobegon Summer 1956
Author: Garrison Keillor
Year: 2001
In Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, Garrison Keillor, the genius behind the radio program “A Prairie Home Companion”, brings to life the fictional small town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, by telling the story of a young teenage boy, Gary, who recounts his days in the Summer of 1956, including his adoration for his cousin Kate, his guilty pleasures with an erotic literature magazine, living with his highly religious family, covering the local sports team for the Lake Wobegon newspaper, and, most importantly, acquiring his uncle’s typewriter, which makes him realize that he wants nothing more than to be writer.
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I was looking around my local Borders, which was in its final days of a closing sale (Everything must go at ridiculously low prices!), and I stumbled across this book. My first reaction was “What? Garrison Keillor writes books?!” Being a casual listener of “A Prairie Home Companion” and loving the wry humor of the program, I immediately picked up Lake Wobegon Summer 1956. Heck, if it turned out I didn’t enjoy it, I wasn’t out a whole lot of money. Hurray for cheap books!
As soon as I read the first couple pages of this book, I knew I was in for something great. Keillor writes with the same kind of humor that fills “A Prairie Home Companion”, which is a witty, subtle humor that can turn potty humor into something that sounds intelligent (if that makes any sense). This humor is best with Keillor’s low, soothing tone of voice. (If you have ever listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” you know exactly what I’m talking about. The man’s voice is so distinctive!).
Not only is the humor superb, but also the book exudes a sort of lulling good-feelings kind of mood, like Keillor’s radio program. I think this is one of my favorite things about Lake Wobegon. Anytime I hear “A Prairie Home Companion” it gives me a feeling of small-town hospitality and comfort, which I think the program is going for, and Keillor definitely hits the target dead center translating that onto the page.
While the feeling of the novel is great, the story that is being told is just as amazing. With it being in the first-person point of view of Gary, the reader really gets that coming-of-age tale. Everything that our protagonist experiences in this one summer is so monumental to his development as a young adult and even the smallest events hold amazing power in them.
Keillor really brings the fictional small town Lake Wobegon, Minnesota to life through the eyes of this young teenager. He doesn’t overly detail the town to the reader, but reveals it as Gary experiences each part of it. It is an idyllic small town that anyone would love to visit.
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With its wry humor and its powerful coming-of-age story supporting it, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 is an excellent book that brings to reality Garrison Keillor’s smalltown of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. I highly suggest this book to anyone who enjoys small town tales, fans of the “A Prairie Home Companion” radio program, and just anyone in general.
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