Garrison Keillor Books

Garrison keeler is at his best when he is telling these stories which he is best known for. Radio shows are way before my time and this was sort of an "acquired taste" for me. Now I can't get enough of him. I can listen to this over and over. It is very comforting and, as others have said, excellent on the road!

I love Prarie Home and Garrison, and this is a great collection. However, it is all music and Tales from Lake Wobegon - none of the other sketches or comedy routines I was hoping for. So, no complaints about what's on the four CDs - just complaints about what's not! I will try one of the other anniversary collections!

Color me displeased. I bought this for Julia, Lover's Waltz, Pioneer Waltz and some other items from my cassette and lo and behold they have been removed from this package. I still give it 5 stars overall because it is PHC but this is a warning for others. Ok, I am editing this as I just noticed a change... They added a table of contents... FROM THE TAPE. Removing content from one edition to another and then advertising the earlier more complete edition makes this just plain wrong.

I had this set on cassette long ago and recently replaced it with a set on CD from amazon.com. I enjoy A Prairie Home Companion and enjoyed listening to the rest of the humor and music in this set, but the reason I bought a second set is for a Peter Ostroushko composition called "Pioneer Waltz" which is so beautiful it literally moves me to tears.

The same composition appears on another Peter Ostroushko CD, but this version is significant superior. Incredible music, easily worth the price of this set and then some. I've never heard anything like it. It is a profound work of art.

This series was wonderful, especially when I listened to it during a cross country trip. It was peaceful and gave the trip even more meaning. Radio shows were before my time, this was a Godsend!

Got this for my husband who has rather long car rides to and from work. We await his return in the evening for him to tell us jokes. Fun! Myself I find the language a little unclear, but all together a toppper.

We purchased this set of Kieller's Joke programs because we like jokes and they help while away the time while traveling. No matter how many times we listen to one of these CDs -- just about every trip -- they still keep us in stitches, making the most boring trip a pleasure. While other CDs are cycled in and out of the car, this set remains.

Using the style of old-time one liners that just keep you laughing and the interaction of musical introductions, this CD keeps you laughing.

Keillor draws on his usual subjects, Norwegians, "Olly and Lena", jokes that could apply to any ethnic group for some of the time, but the 3rd grader jokes are especially funny and useful for a family "uplifter". Some are groaners, some slapstick style, but all are funny, even if you heard them before.

A good buy!

This is a compilation of two of Prairie Home Companion's famous joke shows. The single cassette is filled with about an hour of rapid-fire, mostly short jokes. Content varies from fun but silly knock knock jokes and puns, to more adult topics such as doctor, lawyer, light bulb, and relationship jokes. Nothing too bold or dirty, just some old fashioned fun with at least a few memorable one-liners for everyone. A nice mix of rolling eye groans and belly laughs. I often had to rewind to catch the joke that was proceeding during my laughter at the previous one.

Using the style of old-time one liners that just keep you laughing and the interaction of musical introductions, this CD keeps you laughing.

Keillor draws on his usual subjects, Norwegians, "Olly and Lena", jokes that could apply to any ethnic group for some of the time, but the 3rd grader jokes are especially funny and useful for a family "uplifter". Some are groaners, some slapstick style, but all are funny, even if you heard them before.

A good buy!

Bought this for my father for a Christmas gift. He loved it and has just loaned it to me. If you enjoy Garrison Keillor and his wonderful story telling, you will love these tapes.

I disagree with the earlier reviewer who said something is missing. . .perhaps these stories are not pure comedy, if that is the only "something" you are interested in. This collection is deeper, more thoughtful, the best of all GK's collections for insights into the human condition.

I may be biased--I own nearly every tape and CD set Keillor has put out!! As expected, "Mother (etc.)" does not disappoint. I find his voice a tonic, curing me of everything from insomnia to pessimism. His stories are bittersweet ("Ronnie and the Winnebago" and "Love While You Dare To"), nostalgic and thought-provoking ("The Flood"). Keillor is not forcing morality and religion on us, he is speaking from the heart as he always does, regardless of subject matter.

Even though all we ever see of Keillor is an older, reserved looking character in photos, I can actually picture him as he worries, dreams and gets into trouble as a child and young man. His descriptions and delivery are nothing short of remarkable and his closing lines are poignantly sublime. Maybe that's why so many listeners actually think Lake Wobegon is real, or just wish it were....

Now, I am a huge Keillor fan. I laughed myself hoarse over ... "Casey Strikes Out" and once climbed over twelve rows of seats in order to get his autograph on my dogeared copy of "Lake Wobegon Days."

But I've got to say, this wasn't up to his usual standard of excellence. Sorry, Mr. Keillor. I really wanted to like it. But the "magic" was missing.

The CD was sent quickly, arrived on time and was in great condition. Thanks!

I own 6 of these multi-CD sets of Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon stories and this is my favorite. His voice is strong and rich on these recordings. These are live broadcasts so there's a real audience to provide background chuckles that make me feel like I'm sitting around the fire listening with them.

The segments are Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. (Each one lasting about an hour.) They are comforting little stories that make me smile and relax me as I am drifting off to sleep.

If you are a Lake Wobegon fan, you will enjoy this set very much.

The 4 cassettes are titled "Summer", "Fall", "Winter" and "Spring". All have very funny stories on them and are worth the listen many times over. But the absolute best of the 4 tapes, and the biggest reason anyone should buy this collection, is the "Fall" stories. "Fall" (which I also found listed separately, and have left a review there as well) contains the single funniest Lake Wobegon monologue, "Bruno the Fishing Dog." It also contains a funny take on Minnesota Thanksigivings, and a devastating 24-minute epic called The Royal Family, which I found to be well worth the trip.

To me, Keillor-on-paper vs. Keillor-live is apples and oranges - they should be judged separately. If you do want to hear him, buy this collection--and the collection called "Gospel Birds", also a classic--and you'll be set for some time.

I love Keillor's "Lake Wobegon Days" book, but found listening to these original NPR monologues strangely unappetizing. His book treatments of many of these stories succeed better as humor because on paper he strives more for gentle laughs than to force something "tender" into the mix. This may also reflect the problems of writing and delivering a monologue on live radio every week. Consider the hilarious "Giant Decoys" story. On paper, and for most of the audio monologue, it's about the Sons of Knute lodge and their love of duck hunting, which includes the creation of enormous decoys big enough for ducks to clearly spot them from cruising altitude. In the original monologue, however, Keillor exits with a pointless talk about how writers and hunters both do crazy things and how the hunters need to keep their guns on safety when they're out in the woods whooping it up. It's telling that Keillor omitted this from the book version, and could probably have been safely edited out of the CD. Ditto to his "Christmas Story Re-Told," which seems unfocused, especially for a man whose books usually brilliantly send-up the Catholic and Lutheran faiths; his "Royal Family" bit is clever but overly long and too sentimental. That said, several of Keillor's more "serious" stories are remarkable; he seems at his most effective when he doesn't consciously pull at too many heart strings. His "Hog Slaughter" evokes a lot of ghosts from my summers spent on my relatives' rural farm, where an inner-barn room still bore red-painted walls from that (thankfully long-since-gone) ritual. The same track includes his haunting tale of the unfortunate Elizabeth June, a disabled woman so lonely she invented friends. Keillor uses a light touch with these, and it's hard not to laugh at the moment in church when poor Elizabeth loudly announces to her invisible friend that, yes, she will buy that car. Of his "straight" humor, Keillor seems at his best in shorter bursts like his "brought to you by the Lake Wobegon Chamber of Commerce" bit, in which he introduces us to Fr. Emil's summer replacement at Our Lady of Perpetual Responsibility -- a priest whose rambling sermons feature lessons learned while playing golf, and which include experiences gleaned during parish work in the Las Vegas diocese. His "Living Flag" monologue here is cute, but was better handled in book form. That tells me that while Keillor is America's sole live-radio entertainment stalwart, his humor is most focused and polished on paper.

In true Garrison Keillor fashion, this book spins a tale about a man totally obsessed with his love for cheese. Keillor is so good at poetry. I learned how to pronounce many an odd-named cheese from this book. It's got a couple of mildly objectionable lines in it, but otherwise is just perfect. My kids just love this book during our reading time. It's fun to read aloud!

Garrison Keillor shows a great sense of humor, great rhythm in this odd tale. Let me first warn you though, read it to yourself first once, before trying to read it aloud to a child. If you are not familiar with gourmet cheeses you will be completely tounge tied. My husband and I both love it, our 4 sons have all loved it, as have any friends who have sat on our couch reading it to their children. The detail in some of the illustrations catches the eye of the slightly more sophisticated readers, while still appealing to the little ones. I would say, for oral reading, due to the number of foreign words that this is for the adult to read to the child.

This book is great for those little boys (or girls) that like "gross" stories. The story, told in a great rhyme, is about a man who eats only cheese in various icky forms, with great adjectives describing the cheeses.

I originally bought this CD as a gift but was curious enough that I opened it and played it. I love it. Obviously, I'm keeping that copy and buying another! I am from the Midwest and haven't been back for Christmas in years. Garrison Keillor's wit and homespun stories, the music and the humor all make me anxious to get back there this year. A Prairie Home Christmas is just the kind of down-to-earth Christmas we all need....

This collection of moments from Christmastime broadcasts of "A Prarie Home Companion" is a very good one. It features excellent music, much of it by the "Hopeful Gospel Quartet". It also has wonderful skits, including Tom Keith's amazingly funny sound effects version of the twelve days of Christmas, and a re-telling of the Christmas story by Garrison and the other actors. The only complaint that I would have about this CD set is that Garrison's brilliant storytelling is not the feature of this compilation. Nevertheless, this compilation is without question worth getting for all of those who enjoy "A Prarie Home Companion".

Where do I start?

(A pretty good impersonator of) Mr. Rogers tells little kittens everywhere that "when you get that special feeling inside, that means it's time to visit Mr. Litter Box" in the "Mr. Rogers Catbox Video".

Guy Noir, the sardonic private eye, makes yet another appearance (minus the wise-cracking, tongue-twisting Pete), being handpicked by an ex-con-turned-poet to publish some poetic parodies in the Paris Review, including a hilarious take-off on Robert Frost's "Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening".

"Cold Weather" tends to cheer you up on those super-cold December evenings when the apartment has no heat (hopefully that's just me). Cold weather, according to Mr. Keillor can come in many forms including, but not limited to, your teenage son kicking you out of your own house because he's afraid of his friends coming over and finding the dad in the house.

"You come to New York looking for one thing, and you find another. And Bob Dylan and Carol Channing found each other," in this spoof of the young sixties generation livin' for today in New York City, hanging out with Truman Capote, Larry King, Kirk Douglas, Paul Harvey, and Mr. Rogers ("Found the mushrooms that were so amazing...right here in the neighborhood.").

"Little House On the Desert" is a guarantee side-splitter for any "Little House" enthusiasts out there, when Ma fakes tuberculosis in order to convince Pa to load up the wagon and get the heck out of Minnesota.

For Mother's Day, be sure to take your mom to "Mel's Big Boy Cafe" at the mall. Chewing is optional.

"Newt" is a toe-tappin' little tune about the former Speaker, which is sure to draw laughs from conservatives and liberals alike. Likewise, the Bemidji Boroughway [sic?] song provides a strong warning to ice-fisherman everywhere about the dangers of mistaking cigars, brautwurst, and dynamite.

I could go on and on and on about how great a collection of laughs this is, but I'll end my rambling with "Getting Older", my personal favorite from the three compact discs. This monologue warns us about the dangers of getting older: your grown children getting you as a present one of those stupid books about "the joys of aging"; similar to "Cold Weather", the teenage son lectures his dad on not dropping him off at the front door of school anymore; the vegetarian waitress goes ballistic when her patron orders "the 47-ounce beef-butt in the hot lard sauce" with french fries and butterbrickle ice cream.

In short (a little late for that), this collection has something for everyone.

i found this audio book funny and very impressive because he really tried to make the listener feel he was in each situation.

What more to say? His analyses of the differences between life in the Midwest and life in New York are spot on.

I'm a Midwest boy who moved to NYC and this is the absolute best description of how it is. I gave a copy to my Dad (still back in the Midwest) so he'd understand what it's like for me to live in Manhattan. Everyone who doesn't live on the coasts should own a copy -- it would bring this country back together again!

"You can't run away from trouble. There ain't no place that far." Uncle Remus

Huck and Jim take to the river to escape their troubles, but trouble dogs them every foot of the way. In fact, both Jim & Huck were within days of liberation when they eloped. They literally escaped from freedom.

The slavery and such are interesting sideshows, but Twain makes it pretty clear Jim wasnt mistreated, and freedom was always across the river, north & east, if Jim wanted physical freedom. Freedom was NOT down the river in the heart of the Deep South. All of this is metaphor for running away from your troubles.

This book accurately depicts the lifestyle and thoughts and feelings of Americans during the time slavery was legal. This book incorporates many concepts from other books such as Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet when the Grangerfords and Sheperdsons feuded against each other over a marriage. I recommend this book.

How can one critically review what is arguably the greatest American novel? Very carefully! Twain, who briefly served the Confederacy was a river boat pilot, miner, reporter, lecturer, acerbic wit, devoted family man, was the premier writer of 19th century America.

In "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" Twain thoughtfully and compassionately weaved a tapestry of mid-stream American life and culture which probably did more to positively change white America's view of its black minority than any legislation ever could. He achieved all that while creating a timeless world of youthful adventure to where countless generations can escape.

This wonderful volume is a replica edition that contains almost 200 original illustrations by E. W. Kemble, which conveys the raw excitement of life on the Mississippi. It should be given as a present along with "The Complete Tom Saywer," so the reader can have access to the the entire mythos that Twain recorded.

I have read and enjoyed "Huckleberry Finn" many times; but this recording enhances the text and makes it that much more enjoyable. The narrator, Tom Parker, does a superb job of bringing this odd assortment of strange and humorous characters to life. He does an especially fine job of pronouncing the numerous dialects that Twain put down for posterity. Hearing Mr. Parker's pronunciations and articulations brings these characters to life in all of their mid-nineteenth century motley. If you close your eyes you can picture Huck and Jim conversing as they travel on the Mississippi, lazily wasting their days and outwitting the numbskulls they encounter along the way. Parker does an especially fine portrayal of Pap Finn when he rants about the Guv'ment in a drunken stupor. His Duke and King are also delightfully portrayed in all their vainglorious pomposity.
I was really impressed by how much value I received for so little cost. I laughed many times while following along with my text of the story. After all, Twain was primarily a humorist, and what's the point of reading a story like "Huckleberry Finn" if you refuse to see the humor in it? And Tom Parker's dramatic skills embellish this humor by bringing the text to life. Aside from the humor, Mr. Parker elicits the heart and soul of both Huck and Jim and shows how their views of each change as they both realize just how human and decent the other is. This is a story of some very human people from a time and a world that no longer exist. It's like reading a dream of a foreign world.
This CD set is worth the money. It's a delightful and heartfelt reading of a most wonderfully compassionate and funny story about the common sense and innate humanity of an "uneducated" boy from the back woods of Missouri who discovers his own sense of morality and humanity while living by his wits and travelling up and down the Mississippi while meeting an assortment of colorful characters along the way. And, yes, it is unabridged.

Twain's Huckleberry Finn has derived much controversy from its use of the "n" word in the dialogue as well as what some believe are stereotyped characters within the novel. As some have noted in defense of Twain, Twain's main object was to portray and depict the typical Southern dialect of this time period, and so his use of the word was to mainly show that this was a common expression used. This "overuse" of the word is most obviously an attempt at debunking the idea that people should speak this way. What some forget while reading Huckleberry Finn is that it is a satire aimed at breaking down and making fun of many of the conventions of not only the South, but other aspects of social life. Perhaps the biggest indicator of Twain's intent of facetiousness is in his "Explanatory" and "Notice" in the book's preface, where it is inferred that we are not to take everything so seriously in the book. There are many other things going on in the novel, and it is a shame that often we overlook that a classic like this has so much more going for it.

For one thing, the novel is as much about growing up and striving to do good as anything else. Huckleberry Finn has this battle throughout the book, and mostly after he meets up with Jim on Jackson's Island and must do some serious soul searching to figure out what is right and what is wrong. An abolitionist wasn't thought of lightly in this setting, and so Huck is not easy to let go of society's laws. However, through much of Jim's guidance, Huck does learn morals and principles of life. Jim represents the father-figure in Huck's life, mainly because Huck's "real" Pap is an alcoholic, abusive, neglectful and mean-spirited to his son. If there ever were a case for a character breaking the stereotype idea, it would be Jim. After all, isn't it Jim who questions what Huck believes about him running away from slavery? When Huck examines ironically to himself is, and will always be, a "no good abolitionist", this admission and growth of character can be chalked up to Jim, who has already influenced Huck by then. Jim helps Huck grow up and be a more thought-provoking character. Huck gains a better picture as the novel progresses; for instance, he comes to understand that the duke and the king are not only frauds, but that they are lower than low because of their greed and callousness to the Wilks family.

On another level, the novel is a lot about light-hearted fun, satire, poking fun of society and just Huck's imagination. Huck is a child who is not easy to civilize; he wants to be out in the world and living an adventure, being in a band of robbers with Tom Sawyer or adding "style" to a given situation. Huck often lives life by the moment, and has to use his "street smarts" to get out of predicaments, which might mean making up a story, faking his own death, dressing up like a girl to get information or using quick wit to escape a sticky situation. He seeks freedom and adventure, and the Mississippi River, where Jim and he spend much of their time on the raft, is a symbol for this escape.

Over all, I found this to be a difficult review because Huckleberry Finn is probably one of my favorite books and Twain is one of my favorite authors. But, I think if you read Huckleberry Finn in the right light, it is an amazing read about adventure and growing up. Definitely recommended!

There are really two Garrison Keillors. You are likely familiar with the first, the brilliant homespun humorist and storyteller on A Prairie Home Companion, which is broadcast from St. Paul, MN, Keillor's hometown, once a week on public radio. Keillor also does short (too short) bits daily on public radio under the title A Writer's Almanac, during which he talks about writers living and dead and actually reads poetry--poetry!-- on the air. It is through this venue that a more serious and scholarly-- though equally sensitive--Keillor emerges.

In Homegrown Democrat, he tries to merge the two personas, with his serious side turned toward politics. Although he does not always achieve a smooth blending, often bouncing back and forth between the humorist and the social critic from one paragraph to the next, the book is a wonderfully worthwhile read, perhaps especially because it does give us a broader exposure to the mind and thought of this champion of American bedrock values with a perennial twinkle in his eye.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota, the author is obviously an intellectual. Yet, more than perhaps any city-dwelling writer today, he has maintained a strong connection with, and affection and respect for, the lives and cares and ideals of average people. He opens the book with the Golden Rule, which, among other things, he says, formed his basic morality. Although he came to maturity in the 1960s, he says that he was more influenced by the values of his parents' generation than by the events of that time. More than once in the book he writes: "liberalism is the politics of kindness," and he goes on to list a few things that "do-gooder Democrats have done" for us all: civil rights legislation, opportunities for girls to participate in sports, clean air, Medicare, the right to abortion, public consideration for the handicapped (as in building construction), improved law enforcement, and an overall greater level of tolerance in society. The only major "gap in the social compact" that he sees is the lack of universal health care, about which he says, "our denial of the benefits to so many is downright stone-hearted."

In contrast, he calls the Republicans the "screw-you party"--which even screws its own. He notes (as have others) that what he calls the "corporate Bourbon wing" of the party gets the tax cuts and deregulation, while "the Bibleists get a few vague gestures on symbolic issues such as gay marriage and school prayer." As an example, he notes, disdainfully, that CEOs (based on the latest data available in 2004) now earn 476 times as much as the average worker¬¬--up from 42 times as much in 1980.

The only times Keillor stumbles are when he uses excessive hyperbole in attacking the conservatives. Thus, for example, in positing a hypothetical marriage law of the future, he says: "Marriage...shall consist only of the union of a man and a woman, or, in Utah, women." Unfortunately, if truth be told, the Mormon Church banned polygamy years ago. This, of course, is the humorist bothering the social commentator while he writes, but such exaggeration does little except to dull blunt the force of the author's otherwise valid criticisms.

Despite the above caveat, this is a special book. It is not an episode of Prairie Home Companion in print, although there is much of the show's gentle poking-in-the-ribs to get us to laugh at ourselves and poignant description and storytelling to help us to look at ourselves and others more closely. There is also much solid displeasure here, based on the author's feeling that as a nation and a culture we are turning away from the values that make democracy possible and life worth living. As with Keillor's broadcasts, you'll come away feeling satisfied.

Well, Keillor is truly a gift to the nation and as a fellow Midwesterner, so much of his story resonates with my own experience.
This book recounts the good that government can do; it is, after all, what civilizes us.
For the Republicant's - can't do public schools, so quit, can't have a United Nations, so quit, can't trust your fellow Americans, so gate yourself off to count your money - be warned! You may not like what you're about to read!

Keillor is an old style democrat in both the small and large D sense. He is a bit of a bleeding heart liberal, which he makes no attempt to hide or excuse. There is no doubt that hard-core Republicans will deride the book as the product of a naïve do-gooder mentality.
However, the historical evidence is overwhelmingly supportive of Keillor and his positions on the role of liberalism in making the overall quality of life better for people around the world. As Keillor points out so well, liberalism has been the driving force for nearly all of the dramatic social changes that have altered the world for the better.
No one disputes that the programs against child labor and in support of mandatory education have led to a great deal of positive change. The increase in the overall educational level of the population has led to dramatic increases in productivity and has been the driving force for many to rise out of or avoid a life of poverty.
The greatest single anti-poverty program for the elderly has been the social security program. Before it was implemented, a large percentage of the elderly lived on the thinnest of margins. After this Democratic program was enacted, the poverty rate among the elderly plummeted.
Keillor also mentions how liberal St. Paul, Minnesota has a program whereby paramedics and other emergency workers are never more than a few minutes away from any location in the city. He contrasts that with other areas where cutting taxes has been the mantra and where it is almost impossible for paramedics to arrive within the critical time window that means the difference between life and death.
Liberalism has been the driving force for so much positive social change that in some sense it has matured and mellowed to a point of weakness. Many of the people who so loudly proclaim their conservative credentials would never have had the opportunities to do so if it had not been for the existence of liberal activity. The world needs to be reminded of that and Keillor does that in an honest, forceful and humorous way.

Very good reading.
A hard book to find anywhere else, especially at this great price.

The service from Amazon was exceptionally good.I thought.

The thesis can be summed up in just a few words: Democrats good. Republicans bad.

Luckily, Keillor takes his time with the argument and I got the most enjoyment from the book reading the little stories and limericks that he uses to get his point across. The style is wonderful, but the content was very boring.