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O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound
O What a Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound is the first poetry collection written by Garrison Keillor, the celebrated radio host of A Prairie Home Companion . Although he has edited several anthologies of his favorite poems, this volume forges a new path for him, as a poet of light verse. He writes—with his characteristic combination of humor and insight—on love, modernity, nostalgia, politics, religion, and other facets of daily life. Keillor’s verses are charming and playful, locating sublime song within the humdrum of being human.
- GenresPoetryHumorNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 2013
23 people are currently reading
106 people want to read
About the author
Garrison Keillor
279 books840 followersGary 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
December 3, 2013
I'd gone to The Tattered Cover to hear Keillor in person reading some of the poems in the book, and giving background on the circumstances of their writing. Since then I've read the rest. He loves to play with words, how they sound and how they work together. In fact, cleverness sometimes seems to be his prime consideration. He occasionally divides words from one line to the next in order to achieve a rhyme. Most are humorous--the religious and political satire, and the limericks, for example:
"There was an old man quite embittered/By how he had wasted and frittered/His best years away/In listening all day/To reruns of All Things Considered."
Now and then, however, an introspective, poignant mood surfaces, for example:
"All of the lovers and the love they made:/Nothing that was between them was a mistake./All that we did for love's sake/Was not wasted and will never fade."
Keillor is, above all, an entertainer.
"There was an old man quite embittered/By how he had wasted and frittered/His best years away/In listening all day/To reruns of All Things Considered."
Now and then, however, an introspective, poignant mood surfaces, for example:
"All of the lovers and the love they made:/Nothing that was between them was a mistake./All that we did for love's sake/Was not wasted and will never fade."
Keillor is, above all, an entertainer.
keep-in-mind
March 1, 2017Added March 1, 2017. (Published October 1st 2013 by Grove Press)
This is a book of light poetry. I found out about this book via an ad in an email from The Writer's Almanac (to which I subscribe).
Garrison Keillor, as a radio personality, has always been a favorite of mine. I also enjoy his readings at The Writer's Almanac.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org...
http://writersalmanac.org/episodes/
Below is a link to some sample poems from the book:
https://www.prairiehome.org/books/o-w...
Below is a sample poem from the book:
===============================
There was an old man quite embittered
By how he had wasted and frittered
His best years away
In listening all day
To reruns of All Things Considered.
===============================
This is a book of light poetry. I found out about this book via an ad in an email from The Writer's Almanac (to which I subscribe).
Garrison Keillor, as a radio personality, has always been a favorite of mine. I also enjoy his readings at The Writer's Almanac.
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org...
http://writersalmanac.org/episodes/
Below is a link to some sample poems from the book:
https://www.prairiehome.org/books/o-w...
Below is a sample poem from the book:
===============================
There was an old man quite embittered
By how he had wasted and frittered
His best years away
In listening all day
To reruns of All Things Considered.
===============================
May 25, 2013
I assume Garrison Keillor originally wrote these poems for his
‘Prairie Home Companion” weekly radio broadcast and that he reador recited them over the air. I can just about hear his delivery as he reads these poems, and as spoken poems, especially by Garrison Keillor who is one of the best story tellers we have, they would be amusing or suggestive.
But reading them, often several at a time, they sound amateurish, something a grade school student might write – I have read much
better poems written by high school students.
‘Prairie Home Companion” weekly radio broadcast and that he reador recited them over the air. I can just about hear his delivery as he reads these poems, and as spoken poems, especially by Garrison Keillor who is one of the best story tellers we have, they would be amusing or suggestive.
But reading them, often several at a time, they sound amateurish, something a grade school student might write – I have read much
better poems written by high school students.
August 26, 2016
True Garrison Keillor.
Some make you think, some make you laugh out loud.
All are a joy.
Some make you think, some make you laugh out loud.
All are a joy.
June 13, 2017
This book brought me so much joy and happiness that I need to celebrate it here.
Too many times we associate poetry with doom, gloom and something tragical but in fact - as wonderful Garrison Keillor shows - life has so many different faces and we could (and should) be aware of some positive, good ones, like humor and laughter for example. In fact, I seriously think that its easier to mope around than to keep the spirits high and brave whatever life throws at you. There is a certain defiance and strength in humor and if you were not simply lucky to be born with a spark of humor, well it might be taught by example. I have read Garrison Keillor's collection of wickedly funny & witty poems and roared with laughter (you know the moment when you recognize a perfect stranger as your spiritual soulmate) - this book suddenly illuminated my otherwise dark, windowless ship cabin with a joy and laughter, until I decided to actually buy it and keep it with me because I might need some giggle from time to time. The very first time I opened this book was in public - I was at work and picked up the book we got as sales item. Before I knew what hit me, I snorted with laughter out loud - I apologized to the people near me and hid in the corner.
Too many times we associate poetry with doom, gloom and something tragical but in fact - as wonderful Garrison Keillor shows - life has so many different faces and we could (and should) be aware of some positive, good ones, like humor and laughter for example. In fact, I seriously think that its easier to mope around than to keep the spirits high and brave whatever life throws at you. There is a certain defiance and strength in humor and if you were not simply lucky to be born with a spark of humor, well it might be taught by example. I have read Garrison Keillor's collection of wickedly funny & witty poems and roared with laughter (you know the moment when you recognize a perfect stranger as your spiritual soulmate) - this book suddenly illuminated my otherwise dark, windowless ship cabin with a joy and laughter, until I decided to actually buy it and keep it with me because I might need some giggle from time to time. The very first time I opened this book was in public - I was at work and picked up the book we got as sales item. Before I knew what hit me, I snorted with laughter out loud - I apologized to the people near me and hid in the corner.
January 6, 2022
O, What a Luxury: Verses, Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound, by Garrison Keillor (2013, 170pp). I really wanted to like this book. Actually, I did like it, but not so much for the poems. I firmly believe everyone is a poet, but very few are good poets. Keillor is not a good poet. What saves this book of verse are the ideas that, though stretched and rhymed and contorted, retain their humor. It helps (I think) that I could hear Garrison reciting the words as if I were listening on the radio. That was better than being in the room with him, because I would have felt obliged to smile and show more appreciation than I actually felt. Good, but by no means great. It didn’t hurt that this used copy is a signed first edition. As the title suggests: Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound. Three out of four ain’t bad.
January 5, 2021
I always loved listening to A Prairie Home Companion. Garrison Keillor’s collection of poems is a delight. I was given an ARC so many more poems were included in it & dropped from the final publication but, if you have a chance to listen to the audio, you won’t be disappointed...but does doing so mean I’ve read this twice?
March 1, 2019
I listened to the audiobook version of this. It was actually a recording of the author reading the book to an audience, but I didn't mind too much because it was still unabridged. Funny--first Garrison Keillor book I've ever read.
July 20, 2019
I have been a fan of "A prairie home companion for 3 decades, and have heard Keillor recite poetry on the radio countless times, but to read a collection of his poetry was something else. He has such a range of subject matter, topics, and styles. There are poems there for everyone.
December 7, 2018
A bit of cleverness and the rest just okay.
December 20, 2020
Some very funny parts.
January 22, 2022
A decent mix of humorous poems.
June 20, 2022
Funny verse with Midwestern humor. Loved “ A True Story “ and “ Home on the Plains”.
September 17, 2023
Just as it's billed: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound. There are some keepers and then some very infantile . . . exercises? Dunno, not up to his usual standard.
August 3, 2016
“O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound” by Garrison Keillor, is a short collection of verse, much of it originally read on his weekend radio program “A Prairie Home Companion.”
The 170 pages contains poems of various mood: There were serious poems, but not too dark, and quite a few ditties on the light side. I enjoyed Keillor’s rhyme for comedy effect, such as rhyming “ladies,” “physiognomies,” and “freeze” in the poem “Ode to the Women on the Mural at the State Theatre, Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis.”
The ending of his poem “In Love” is amusing and should strike a familiar chord:
“Love is the universal sport
The night is dark, and life is short
The heart is open, always willing,
The touch of skin is so fulfilling.
Darling, when I look at you
There is not much I can do.
Touch is push and push is shove –
I’m in love.”
“Birthday Poem for F.S.F.” is an homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald, a native of St. Paul, Minn., where Keillor broadcasts most of his radio programs. Keillor says of the author of “The Great Gatsby,” who died at age 44, that “You blazed, then you cracked,/ You had no second act” and concludes “But what beautiful prose –/ Happy birthday. R.I.P. Thank you, Scott.”
There was a poem called "San Francisco," specifically about Golden Gate Park. It mentions eucalyptus trees, fog, "Asian grannies" speaking "high-speed Mandarin," rowboats on Stow Lake, and the herd of bison. The poem ends:
“No wonder people from Indiana, Ohio, North Dakota, and Illinois
Come here to awaken their old romance
In a park of flowering plants
Under a Pacific sun,
How could one not be in love, even if you're not sure with whom or why?”
This book, much in the spirit of Ogden Nash, is an enjoyable poetic jaunt.
The 170 pages contains poems of various mood: There were serious poems, but not too dark, and quite a few ditties on the light side. I enjoyed Keillor’s rhyme for comedy effect, such as rhyming “ladies,” “physiognomies,” and “freeze” in the poem “Ode to the Women on the Mural at the State Theatre, Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis.”
The ending of his poem “In Love” is amusing and should strike a familiar chord:
“Love is the universal sport
The night is dark, and life is short
The heart is open, always willing,
The touch of skin is so fulfilling.
Darling, when I look at you
There is not much I can do.
Touch is push and push is shove –
I’m in love.”
“Birthday Poem for F.S.F.” is an homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald, a native of St. Paul, Minn., where Keillor broadcasts most of his radio programs. Keillor says of the author of “The Great Gatsby,” who died at age 44, that “You blazed, then you cracked,/ You had no second act” and concludes “But what beautiful prose –/ Happy birthday. R.I.P. Thank you, Scott.”
There was a poem called "San Francisco," specifically about Golden Gate Park. It mentions eucalyptus trees, fog, "Asian grannies" speaking "high-speed Mandarin," rowboats on Stow Lake, and the herd of bison. The poem ends:
“No wonder people from Indiana, Ohio, North Dakota, and Illinois
Come here to awaken their old romance
In a park of flowering plants
Under a Pacific sun,
How could one not be in love, even if you're not sure with whom or why?”
This book, much in the spirit of Ogden Nash, is an enjoyable poetic jaunt.
October 18, 2013
Love Keillor, but if you're not a person of leisure with unlimited time, skip the books and listen to his radio show Sunday morning on the re-broadcast. That said, his send up of Tulane's own Newt Gingrich was wonderful:
Newt, Newt
Wears an Extra Large suit.
His hair is shaped like a parachute.
A grand old Republican galoot
With a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his snoot
And a horn on his belt he is happy to toot.
Oh he can shimmy and he can shout:
Up with the flag, throw the scoundrels out!
Hurray for the crackers! Down with the fruit!
He's a big balloon with a very slow leak.
What you'd say for a minute, Newt can say for a week.
He knows what politics is all about.
Never had a moment's doubt.
Here's the handle, there's the spout.
Cash goes in and the steam comes out.
Newt, Newt
Wears an Extra Large suit.
His hair is shaped like a parachute.
A grand old Republican galoot
With a gleam in his eye and a smirk on his snoot
And a horn on his belt he is happy to toot.
Oh he can shimmy and he can shout:
Up with the flag, throw the scoundrels out!
Hurray for the crackers! Down with the fruit!
He's a big balloon with a very slow leak.
What you'd say for a minute, Newt can say for a week.
He knows what politics is all about.
Never had a moment's doubt.
Here's the handle, there's the spout.
Cash goes in and the steam comes out.
June 4, 2014
I picked this book up from the “browsing” section at the library at work. It caught my eye as I have enjoyed Garrison Keillor’s work with his popular radio show. I also saw him at Tanglewood perhaps 8 years ago and remember loving the stories and narratives he shared. His book of poems here ranged from funny verses about life and things we do, politics, and even one called “Urology.” I think my favorite poem was “Wedding Recessional” as we are deep into talking and starting to plan my daughter’s wedding. It was fun to read a few poems each night and I highly recommend the book. Think I’ll try to find a podcast of his work to listen to on the way to work.
January 11, 2014
This book of poetry by Garrison Keillor was a pleasant diversion from the busyness of life. His clever use of words and phrases describe life in all of its ups and downs and often says what we, in our appropriate upbringing, are seldom brave enough to say. Two memorable poems that illustrate this were "Lutheran Story", the musings of a frustrated pastor and "Address to the Harvard Chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, Sanders Theater, June 2008". Here he encourages his audience to take risks and view failure as an opportunity to grow. This was a quick read but an enjoyable one. Give it a try.
November 26, 2015
Enjoyable light verse.
Favorites:
9...Onion soup
12..Thong song
25..Show business
31..O, what a luxury (to pee, to piss to take a leak)
39..Frequent Flyer
Do not think of flying
Into the ground and dying,
Think about when you retire
To that cottage on the shore
To become a kindly recluse
Who never sets foot out his door.
41..Winter guests
Bison: they do not ever use a commode
they just sit and drop a buffaload
57..Seattle (everything is uphill)
94..Fatherhood (he was young and he was dumb, but when things began to hum)
Favorites:
9...Onion soup
12..Thong song
25..Show business
31..O, what a luxury (to pee, to piss to take a leak)
39..Frequent Flyer
Do not think of flying
Into the ground and dying,
Think about when you retire
To that cottage on the shore
To become a kindly recluse
Who never sets foot out his door.
41..Winter guests
Bison: they do not ever use a commode
they just sit and drop a buffaload
57..Seattle (everything is uphill)
94..Fatherhood (he was young and he was dumb, but when things began to hum)
January 14, 2016
I won't pretend to know anything about poetry, but this book is entertaining at least. It is more accessible than many other books of verse—majority of which I find mostly indecisive bow majority of which I find mostly indecipherable due apparently to a lack of intellect.
The book is silly at times, and at others profound. It pairs well with the rest of his writing, and longtime friends will find familiarity as well as a few surprises.
The book is silly at times, and at others profound. It pairs well with the rest of his writing, and longtime friends will find familiarity as well as a few surprises.
December 27, 2013
Enjoy his show. Did not enjoy this book to the extent that I could not force myself to finish it. I am fairly open minded about what I will read, but this just wasn't my cup of tea. For the diehard fans who can relate more to the content I am sure this is great. For a casual admirer like myself, not so much.
June 6, 2014
Poems from the Prairie Home Companion show. All of them are silly and light, in typical Garrison Keillor form. I really enjoyed them. I am very fond of satirical and funny poetry and have been listening to Keillor's show for years.
Recommended to any Prairie Home fan and those who like light poetry.
Recommended to any Prairie Home fan and those who like light poetry.
July 27, 2014
I imagine that poetry books are meant to be savored and not read straight through.. ok.. so read this in two sittings.. I admit to loving to hear Prairie Home Companion on the radio.. but I just mildly amused by his writing .. poetry and books.. some of the poems were fun.. some tedious.. but mostly just rhyming amusement
October 8, 2013
O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound by Garrison Keillor (Grove Press 2013) (811) is a new collection of poems by "America's Tallest Radio Humorist." They are light, pithy, and witty - very Keilloresque. My rating: 6/10, finished 10/7/13.
March 19, 2014
A nice collection of light-hearted poetry by one of the greatest story-tellers of our times, covering a wide range of topics from Minnesota to love, and San Francisco to religion. Fun and energizing.
August 30, 2016
O, What a Luxury: Verses Lyrical, Vulgar, Pathetic & Profound by Garrison Keillor is his first published collection of his own poems. From limericks to love poems, Keillor’s charm and good humor color all his poetry with pleasure.
December 11, 2016
Garrison Keillor, as evidenced by his poetry, is either a damn fine human being or an expert liar. Either way, the family extends an open invitation to the home for a beer and nice Texas supper should he ever need lodging in red East Texas.
October 20, 2013
"O the buzzin' of the flies on the rhubarb pies and the
alfalfa soda
You can hear the loons singing opera tunes
In the state of Minnesota"
I just love this man....
alfalfa soda
You can hear the loons singing opera tunes
In the state of Minnesota"
I just love this man....
November 9, 2013
We bought this book of poems to help us survive the dark days of the government shutdown. We laughed and laughed and plan on taking these verses to camp nest summer share with special friends!!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews