The Keillor Reader

by Garrison Keillor

An eclectic collection of essays that offer a shot of clarity and wisdom—or just an honest laughGarrison Keillor is famous as the host of the radio show A Prairie Home Companion, now in its twenty-seventh year and heard by more than four million listeners each week. His most recent Lake Wobegon novel, Pontoon, was an instant New York Times bestseller that received phenomenal reviews from coast to coast. And he’s become the arbiter of fine American poetry through the Good Poems series and as the voice of The Writer’s Almanac. But Keillor’s sharpest insights and sense of humor shine through most brilliantly in his essays. Culled from his syndicated newspaper column, “The Old Scout,” and pieces written for Time magazine and The Atlantic Monthly among others, The Keillor Reader will be embraced by readers who fell in love with Alice through Calvin Trillin’s memoirs, laughed out loud with David Sedaris in Me Talk Pretty One Day, or winced knowingly as they read I Feel Bad About My Neck by Nora Ephron. The perfect gift, The Keillor Reader is chock full of notions about how to navigate life’s murkier waters, all told with the bracing wit and beautiful turns of phrase that only this literary-minded Midwesterner can deliver.

Genres: Humor, Fiction, Short Stories, Essays, Poetry, Anthologies, Book Club

Hardcover

First published April 1, 2009

About the author

Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, singer, humorist, voice actor, and radio personality. He created the Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) show A Prairie Home Companion (called Garrison Keillor's Radio Show in some international syndication), which he hosted from 1974 to 2016. Keillor created the fictional Minnesota town Lake Wobegon, the setting of many of his books, including Lake Wobegon Days and Leaving Home: A Collection of Lake Wobegon Stories. Other creations include Guy Noir, a detective voiced by Keillor who appeared in A Prairie Home Companion comic skits. Keillor is also the creator of the five-minute daily radio/podcast program The Writer's Almanac, which pairs poems of his choice with a script about important literary, historical, and scientific events that coincided with that date in history.
In November 2017, Minnesota Public Radio cut all business ties with Keillor after an allegation of inappropriate behavior with a freelance writer for A Prairie Home Companion. On April 13, 2018, MPR and Keillor announced a settlement that allows archives of A Prairie Home Companion and The Writer's Almanac to be publicly available again, and soon thereafter, Keillor began publishing new episodes of The Writer's Almanac on his website. He also continues to tour a stage version of A Prairie Home Companion, although these shows are not broadcast by MPR or American Public Media.

Reviews

[Tom Schwerbrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was on about page 271 when allegations of Keillor's sexual misconduct hit the news. The whole thing kinda colors my view of his writing now. Which makes me feel a bit like a turncoat, a Benedict Arnold to my own kind- men that is, not sexual predators. I've always been far too much of a coward, far too intimidated by females to be a predator. I'm more like prey. You can call it respectful of the gentler of the sexes, but it's a respect rooted in fear, that prevented me from ever "coming on" to a girl. Sexual predation? I had trouble crossing the floor to ask a girl to dance. And a single negative response to such an inquiry would render me paralyzed for days. "She doesn't like me! What am I to do!" What I'm trying to say- there is nothing noble in my deference to the female of the species. I'm just a chicken. But a man. A man chicken. Somewhat loyal to other man chickens. I can't help it.

But, back to Keillor, after reading of his being swept up in this latest wave of revelations and accusations, his frequent tales of past sexual encounters by him, or his presumed sexual prowess of his grandfather who sired 12 children- does suddenly stand out like a sore thumb. He talks about sex a lot. His writings are peppered with sex. Why?

And how does one end up in 3 marriages like Keillor? Optimism. "This next one'll surely be the marital bliss I've dreamed of!" Or you're just plain made to fall for the wrong girl, over and over. And then you write about it. A cure for writer's block. "Honey! Sorry, but I had an affair with the secretary, I needed some new material. And yes, I called the lawyer already." Or you're just a danged pervert. That's what Minnesota Public Radio says he is.

Wait a second, this is supposed to be a book review, isn't it?

Keillor's stories reminisce of kinder, gentler times, yet he doesn't allow his ancestors off the hook. They're all humans. Prone to human failings. They have sex. They had to. Grandpa had 12 kids, remember? His characters are judged but never condemned. Forgiven. Unless they're Republicans.

He has a style all his own, or seems to have to a newbie like me. He is a great storyteller. He has real comic talent. He appears to understand comedy on a visceral level. He finds it everywhere he looks it seems. It surprises the reader. I sit and laugh and people look at me like I'm insane.

"It's the book, not my witzelsucht this time."

So, read the book. Does Keillor deserve the public lashing he's getting at the moment? I don't know. (Although, he is a Democrat!) But the stories he writes are lighthearted, a great escape from the dismal news, dismal TV drama, and dismal pulp fiction that dominates Amazon these days. I highly recommend it.

[Koren · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compilation of his work. I have seen the author in person twice and love to listen to him speak. Some chapters were funny and some just made you think. He makes Minnesotans laugh at themselves.

[Heidi Wiechert · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads. FTC guidelines: check!

Before I read this, I had never heard of Garrison Keillor. Maybe I heard one of his monologues while hanging out with my grandparents way back when, but other than that- I was a blank slate. Unfortunately, this collection wasn't my cup of tea.

I really liked the small bits before each section where he described his life while he was writing each piece and how that experience affected the tone and story lines. The writing itself was meandering. He intended that, especially in the Prairie Home Companion parts, and it may have made for an engaging radio show, but it wasn't very much fun to read. He introduced characters who had one line and then they never showed up again (maybe reoccurring characters from the show? I dunno.) The endings to his stories never felt like endings, just "stoppings", if that makes sense- probably another residual from his performance pieces. I wanted more structure and a focused story- this collection had very little of either.

I laughed a couple times during his 'Little House on the Desert' which was his parody of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Woods. He took one of my favorite childhood stories, threw in a different setting, a brother that didn't exist, and some silliness. I enjoyed most of it but that was really the only essay that I liked out of the bunch.

Some of his family stuff was sweet but some of it really wasn't. In "The Death of Byron", he was dealing with the death of his father and was trying to process those feelings through his writing. The characters in that one felt stilted to me, probably exactly what he intended, but they were so emotionally removed that I neither bonded with them nor cared what was going on. That was really my problem with the whole book. Each chapter was only a short story, so Keillor was never able to get an extended narrative going. Maybe it's not that I dislike Keillor's writing as much as I didn't like the length of the stories. Perhaps I would enjoy it more if I read one of his novels.

I also didn't share his sense of humor. He would begin his stories like someone writing in the 1950's but then something totally inappropriate would happen like a girl shoving her male cousin's hand up her shirt to show him that she didn't have a bra on. I suppose that the juxtaposition was supposed to be funny but I wasn't laughing.

I suspect that fans of A Prairie Home Companion will love this. It just wasn't for me.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received The Keillor Reader in a Goodreads giveaway and have been enjoying it all summer, reading it in bits and pieces whenever I get a spare moment. Keillor is a master storyteller. Although his writing often veers into the bizarre, he always brings it around to a satisfying conclusion. The collection shows his wide range of talent with monologues, stories, essays, and poems. Autobiographical introductions to each selection provide insight into his life and mindset, which added a lot of value for me.
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I’m always entertained by The Prairie Home Companion (especially since I went to college in Minnesota), and it’s impossible to read these pieces without hearing Keillor’s distinctive voice in my head. A downside of this is that the few times he went rated-R, it felt jarring, almost like he was trying too hard to be edgy. The poetry also fell flat for me. At times it just seemed silly and I found myself skimming most of it.

Overall, this is a fantastic anthology. I’ll be earmarking my favorite selections and turning to them whenever I want some bite-size, palate-cleansing reading.

[Nicki Conroy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this was a hard read for me to get into, I loved it. Life lessons abound in it.

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a gift from my father, as a fondness for Lake Wobegon is a shared connection between us. It is a collection of short stories, poems and essays, some related to Lake Wobegon and some not, gathered from Keillor's long career. I read it thinking of dad and of what I would say to him and recommend or not about each piece. I was partial to those which were less autobiographical and essayish in nature, his more fun works, "Don Giovanni" and "Zeus the Lutheran", for example, as well as his reworking of "Casey at the Bat" (dad will love this one). I liked his lists: "What Have We Learned So Far?" and "Rules of Orchestra", the latter reminding me of a former student of mine. Some Wobegon favorites like "Pontoon Boat" and "Truckstop" were there, each with its slow drawing out of the plot, little wisdoms and surprise twists. And that, I think, is enough Keillor for a while.

[Elizabeth Powers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quintessential Keillor; at times humorous, profound, introspective, folksy. Being a Minnesotan probably helps in terms of truly feeling close to the author and the stories, for example when he lists the streets on Cathedral Hill he has lived on and you too have lived on two of the three. Throughout, though, there is an old school understanding of relations between the genders that, in retrospect, causes a brief pause in light of recent events. Nevertheless, I still love Garrison Keillor and always will!

[Peggy Roberson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was really hoping that this book was going to be better than it was, after seeing the movie about him, but I was slightly disappointed. There were a couple of stories that I found so boring, that I couldn't wait for them to be over. Others I found to be very heartwarming, and they tugged at my heart. The book, in its' entirety, is a mixed bag of his life, so if you like reading that type of thing, it's a worthwhile read.

[Peter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful read, much more than Lake Wobegon! I loved the tempo.

[Fred Cheyunski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insights into Keillor and His Fictional Radio Storytelling - I was interested to come upon this Keillor anthology and curious about the answer to its subtitle; namely, where did those forty years of stories come from?

Also, as someone who had listened to “A Prairie Home Companion” on a periodic basis since its early days, I was also drawn to discerning what had made Keillor and his fictional radio storytelling so effecting and popular. At the same time having been to several live performances, seen and met Keillor briefly at book signings, I was disappointed by Me Too accusations against Keillor, their aftermath, and sought any insight to help deal with my dissonance.

While this book appeared in 2014, before Keillor had retired from his radio show and any tarnish, it provides plenty of background and writings from over the years to answer questions and concerns such as mine. More specifically, its contents include an Introduction and Four Sections: (1) The News from Lake Wobegon – 11 stories, (2) Iconic Pajamas – 10 stories, (3) Guys I Have Known – 9 stories, (4) Life’s Little Day – 14 stories (44 stories overall or an average of 11 stories per section). There are stories from 25 different sources of articles and chapters in books by Keillor ranging from 1976 to 2013----a true Keillor sampler with helpful explanatory remarks for each section and story.

In the Introduction, we learn more about Keillor’s MN small town background, early involvement as reader, local sports writer, his U of MN involvement, and time as an English major (including his literary connections/influences such as Allen Tate, Saul Bellow, etc.). There is his initiation into radio work, the New Yorker article(s) that got his career started, his early work as a morning radio host/DJ, the invention of radio persona and origination of Lake Wobegon, Prairie Home Companion, and his activities from that time, e.g. associations such as with George Plimpton and John Updike (see my review of "The Best of the Harvard Lampoon: 140 Years of American Humor"). Then, there are the stories themselves, Keillor’s reminiscences and reflections.

A few of my favorite parts and quotes inform the Keillor’s take on comedy, his story telling style, his career end view on the radio business, its differences from what he did and those life lessons helping him deal with his later years. (See Jessica Abel’s "Out on the Wire: The Storytelling Secrets of the New Masters of Radio" to compare and contrast fiction and non-fiction styles as well as more old school vs. newer school radio approaches).

So, for insights Into Keillor and his fictional radio storytelling as well as for some enjoyment from his tales consult the Keillor Reader.

[Craig Maas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read any Keillor since "Lake Wobegon Days" came out in 1985. Keillor was too 'down home' for my taste. But now I'm 37 years older I find his take on mid-western life very comforting.

Excerpts from the book:

Chapter 5: Gospel Birds
On a Saturday morning before a show, I sit down and write out the News from Lake Wobegon monologue, about three pages single-spaced. A sensible person would do it on Monday, but old habits die hard and I seem to require a nigh level of adrenaline to get the job done. On Monday the show appears very far away, on Saturday morning] am looking over the precipice. Sometimes I print out the three pages, sometimes not. If I print them out, I will glance at them before going out on stage. You don’t want the monologue to sound like you’re reading it, so you don’t read it - you want it to sound like a man thinking aloud, so you stand in the spotlight and try to think of what you wrote down, unconsciously editing the three pages approximately in half rearranging things, and, your mind goes blank, you grab the first thought you can think of and hang on. Its exciting -page 35

Chapter 11: Faith
It was Confirmation Sunday. In olden times girls would dress in bright new spring hats and white dresses and white gloves and boys would wear suits and ties. Those days are gone, never to return. If the girl has a grandma who wields some influence (a grandma with property), the girl may wear a nice dress, but the hats and gloves are gone. I miss the white gloves, which was a way of saying This day is different from other days. Many confirmation kids come in jeans and sneakers, which is in line with the idea that God looks on the heart, not on one’s exterior, but is that a license to attend church in our underwear? It’s Sunday, after all. It’s not Tuesday. But the truth is that some Lutherans actually are Unitarians. Just as you have people at a basketball game who don’t care about the game, they go just to be sociable. -page 83

[Tom Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Four-star only because not all of the entries are of the good folks of Lake Wobegon; had it been, then it would be five-star. Still I feel guilty; I so loved listening to Keillor's Prairie Home Companion. And then all that brouhaha over nothing; not when compared with the monstrosity now holed up in the White House. Seems all the values of life are relative. Being a non-believer, I can't hold to an absolute righteousness. (However, I now find myself believing in absolute evil.) Mephistopheles spells his name, "GOP", grotesquerie of pestilence.

My own childhood of the early 1950s closely mirrors G.K.'s; the washed out food jars, the fruit cellar, slaughtering chickens, the seemingly endless hours of Sunday church, listening to radio dramas, the scenes of a small midwestern town (Spring Grove, MN, circa 1955), standing in the backseat of the car with my chin over dad's shoulder...I am soon to be seventy-eight, oi.

[Sylvia Snowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

A selection of Keillor's favorite pieces, along with stories and reminisces of his life and his family. Most of this is beautifully woven together, with his narrative and then the piece. I'm giving it a four, although I'd prefer to call it a four and a half. Ladies, skip some of the chapters in the latter part of the book, where he tortures us all with his tortuous relationships with controlling, manipulative women. One in particular, his Danish ex, and you don't want to hear about his bitterness over this. Otherwise, I highly recommend the book. A beautiful remembrance of the Minnesota of my parents and grandparents, as well as a retrospective of Keillor's life and his work.

[Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to start off with the fact that I've read and researched the allegations against the author.
I'm truly convinced that this is nothing more than some people being shocked that their first boss is arrogant and rude.

Mr Keillor is totally aware of his shortcomings and the shortcomings of humanity. That's why his writing is so good. He's a treasure, a true renaissance man. I highly recommend this book.

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon stories. They are hysterical. This book is more of a memoir interlaced with stories that were published and monologues he gave. At this point he is 71 years old and is sharing his family history as well as his personal history. I was disappointed that his stories weren't as funny as his Lake Wobegon tales. I learned a lot about him that I didn't know. NOt my favorite book of his.

[Alan Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

GK knows the soul of the upper Midwest. I recognize so many family members- old farmer uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, and parents -from his vivid descriptions in his stories. It's sad his career ended on such a disappointing note, but his 40+ years of storytelling will always be a highlight for me.

[Dennis Hogan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Keillor Reader by Garrison Keillor, a collection of essays written in 2015 and includes a lot of material from his popular radio show, A Prarie Home Companion. This book doesn’t sugar coat his shortcomings and in my view is an intriguing look at a poor farm kid’s career trajectory as a writer and performer. I found the book honest and revealing.

[Leelan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was happy to listen to Garrison on the radio for years. A friend introduced me to A Prairie Home Companion in college more than thirty years ago. It was sad when he retired in 2016 and I have missed him. It is only now that I have started reading him. I'm glad I did.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A master at the art of storytelling and a softie that values the "old" values of home, family and friends.

[Garry · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/12/2017

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection, which when brought together, is almost an auto-biography. Inevitably perhaps, it can be repetitive at times, but we forgive him.

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Your book saved my life, Mister." 2018

[Ryan Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Keillor is a far better speaker than a writer, but still worth the read.

[Robert Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read, rural America visualization. .
Prairie homes . . Farm life / small town. .
Humor! ? !

[Allie Basilius · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the stories of Garrison Keillor, but his chauvinism is genuinely tiresome and overall is very distracting from his wonderful tales.

[Kirk Fortune · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable mishmash of Keillor stories and musings.

[Sandie Custer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unable to complete - topics and writing style were unappealing. Was LW really fiction?

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting collection. I laughed at many of these essays. I miss listening to this storyteller on the radio. I enjoyed his personal intros to the selections .

[Ted Cartier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really enjoyed the beginning of this book but found it got morose and negative as the book progressed.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minnesota author -- I guess you need to be from Minnesota to appreciate.