Love Me

by Garrison Keillor

The enterprising Larry Wyler, settled in St. Paul with his beloved Iris, and earnest Democrat out to save the world, sits upstairs and writes stories and lands one in The New Yorker , the Canaanland of all English majors. While Iris devotes herself to rescuing demented geezers and chemically dependent single moms, he sets his sights on literary prominence. When his first novel, Spacious Skies , becomes a hit, he leaves Iris behind and buys a Manhattan apartment with a fabulous terrace and moves into an office at The New Yorker among writers he admires and the great editor William Shawn.

304 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2003

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

[Kelly Stalions · Rating 3 out of 5]

(2nd try at a review. Lost my first when the app just randomly shut down!) I enjoyed this book, but the next Keillor I read will be one with “Lake Wobegone” in the title. The protagonist of this novel, Larry, was hard-to-like. Larry Wyler is clearly the author’s creation of a version of himself. I recall that I’ve read about Keillor’s troubles with women, and maybe some abuses of power. I could be wrong though, and don’t feel like googling now. Back to Larry—he’s a writer who after publishing one best-seller ends up living in NYC working for The New Yorker. He dreams of leaving a mark in the literary world comparable to Salinger and a bunch of other classic big-name authors whose names get dropped repeatedly. Larry left his absolutely lovely wife Iris (a flaming liberal who fights against the government for the weak and lonely) back in St. Paul while he lived out his dream and basically failed at it. He got writer’s block and the most writing he did was as Mr. Blue who gives advice weekly. Larry is a narcissist and a cheater, but I laughed out loud quite a few times. I could have given these 4 stars but some confusing and out-of-place things held me back. Although I loved the silly but clever name of the mafia man who went after Larry, Mr. Crossendotti, I was taken aback by his murder. Some parts of the book were outrageous. Maybe not my kind of humor. But I definitely don’t regret reading it! {This novel will not be in my classroom.)

[Cheryl Licata · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dear Mr. Blue,
I was so grateful to turn to the last page of your story about a magazine columnist. You seem so involved in sex and stupid people (where's the love?) I'm glad it's over for me. I was looking for a book full of laughs after being in Lunatic Ward No. 6 with Anton Chekhov. That was more enjoyable than Love Me. Next I'm reading Notes from Underground by Fyodor Dostoevsky. I'm looking forward to it.
Hope you found love and laughter writing; I'm sorry I missed it reading this book. Sincerely,
Sad Sack (of unread books)

[Emily Devine · Rating 3 out of 5]

"A lovely picture, but we don't live in pictures, do we -- no. I believe I can live without alcohol, and so I am trying to do. I have had enough, thank you. I drank a lot because I enjoyed it. Then I didn't enjoy it as much. So I stopped. As simple as that. We puritans overdramatize these things. We want there to be lions stalking us, whereas it's only some old coyote. Not utter degradation: just poor choices."