Never Better: Stories from Lake Wobegon

by Garrison Keillor

"It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon, my home town...." Each week, more than four million radio listeners hear these words, and settle in for some old-fashioned, up-to-the-minute storytelling.
During live broadcasts of A Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor takes us to "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve," where "the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." These expertly crafted tales touch the heart and tickle the funnybone. Warm, poignant, often hilarious, each is a classic of live storytelling, full of gentle humor, genuine emotion, and (more often than not) surprising insights into family, community, love, faith, and hope.

Genres: Humor, Audiobook, Fiction

2 pages, Audio CD

First published April 2, 2007

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

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hearing the voice and the stories of Lake Wobegon is sure a fun way to spend a trip in a car- even if just doing errands- The feeling is lowkey, humorous, farm-sy and just so comforting A pleasure to listen to these great tales and enjoy!

[Kelly Brinkmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

So witty with wonderful descriptions of daily interactions rooted in genuine experiences.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of Lake Wobegone monologues from A Prairie Home Companion. A few of the stories were included in other collections.

[Mia Emslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood… I’ve enjoyed Garrison’s stories in the past.. and there were funny moments.. but I mainly thought these were all slow, repetitive and (sorry) boring.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice two audio CD collection of short tales from the beloved town of Lake Wobegon "where all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average." Being of Scandinavian heritage, Lutheran upbringing and growing up in the Midwestern reaches of Wisconsin, I certainly can relate to Keillor's fictional characters and their idiosyncrasies. I even saw myself in one of these gently humored stories. It was a mention of a Lutheran church goer who was asking for sage advice from her pastor about her stubborn refusal to include the words "And I believe in one holy catholic and apostolic Church," while reciting the Nicene Creed. As a kid, I refused to say the very same words. Not out of malice but because it was like being a Green Bay Packer fan (which I am) rooting for the team rivals.. The Chicago Bears. ;-) Anyway, enjoyable tidbits from a master storyteller.

Note: This was a book that I received from a member at
Bookcrossing.com

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who else captures the repressed lives of the midwest... This is a great collection of his better stories.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite Keillor collection.

[Coleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/11/12 - Quite an interesting style of humor and underlying seriousness, this was a nice collection of stories -- some better than others. At two discs, it was a nice single-session listen.

[Jason Roland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great. Of course, it's great: it's Garrison Keillor

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always a joy...comforting, warm and friendly words....

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed listening to this 2 disc set. Not Mr. Keillor's best from Lake Wobegon, but I still laughed and was entertained as I always am when listening to what is happen up in Lake Wobegon.

[Ginny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the cd in the car. Some of his better stories.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun but short compilation of lake Wobegon stories.

[Kristal Stidham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everyday stories about small-town, churchgoing, Northern folk. I really enjoyed them!