[.ca] Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 (ISBN 1565115015)

Woe is me:
Unfortunately, there's something a little disappointing about Garrison Keillor's latest book of Lake Wobegon lore. I read LAKE WOBEGON DAYS a few years ago, and although I found it to be generally slow-moving, it was nonetheless also consistently moving, poetic and sweet (something like maple syrup, all told). It was probably my favorite book in a year full of pretty good books, so I was eager to pick up another Keillor title before long. When LAKE WOBEGON SUMMER 1956 came out in hardcover, I snatched it up and dove in with exuberance and relish (and a little picnic table mustard and ketchup). LAKE WOBEGON SUMMER 1956 starts off strongly enough, setting up an interesting family of characters, and putting them through a series of interesting and keenly observed episodes of mid-twentieth century interpersonal drama. The young male protagonist portrays himself, often humorously, as something of a tortured soul: a sensitive artistic type saddled with an incurably filthy mind who, as plain bad luck would have it, was born into the midst of a thick-witted, Bible-toting household. Young Gary is relentlessly persecuted by his goody-goody older sister, unjustly scolded and disciplined by his humorless father, and gossiped about by his aunts. It's only his free spirit cousin, whom he has the hots for, and his somewhat free-thinking mother that give Gary some of the room he needs to grow into the adult who'll eventually write down all of these sometimes fond, sometimes painful memories. There's also an uncle that gives him the best gift anyone could give a boy with too many thoughts in his head: a typewriter. Gary spends most of the summer of 1956, when he's not fantasizing about his cousin, or writing dirty stories on his new typewriter, covering the local baseball games for the LakeWobegon paper. It's not a bad way to spend the summer when you're fourteen and just starting out. The problem is, the way it's written, it doesn't make for that great of a novel. One problem is that nothing really happens. Gary almost gets involved with his cousin, goes to baseball games, spanks the monkey, learns to write lead sentences, meets the lead singer of a local musical group, and that's really about it. LAKE WOBEGON DAYS didn't have much in the way of conflict either, but it managed to propel itself with a quiet, dreamy worldview that always left you hungry for another lick, and kept you from putting the book down unless you absolutely had to. In LAKE WOBEGON SUMMER 1956, you get the feeling that that wonderful ice-cream like narrative substance was left out of the freezer a little too long and got soupy on you. There are nice moments LW SUMMER 1956, and it's worth a look if you're a frequent visitor, but all in all, it just doesn't have the hard to define stuff to keep you interested. Still, it's clear from this book that Keillor has many talents as a writer, and his humor and sense of irony remain intact throughout. If you're looking for a good chuckle and don't mind blue material (or actually seek it out) LAKE WOBEGON SUMMER 1956 is probably worth a look.

Nerdy, horny teenager turns into writer:
"I look like a tree toad who was changed into a boy but not completely." Meet Gary. He's a geeky fourteen-year-old with self-esteem problems and an alarming crush on his cousin, Kate. Within the course of the book he discovers he has a love of writing. His first stories have talking dogs, incurable diseases and unpleasant weather phenomena, but as he grows up a little and gains some insight into his family, his friends, and himself, he realizes that there's more to write about. At the heart of it, the book is a pretty typical coming of age story, but it's worth reading if you're a Keillor fan and love his kind of humor (though his jokes and descriptions are more explicit here than they usually are). For me there weren't a lot of laugh-out-loud moments, but I was smiling often and enjoying Keillor's unusual descriptions ("her big yellow butt like two pigs fighting in a laundry bag"). If you're a writer, or just interested in the writing process, you might also like the book because it will give you some wry insights into a writer's mind and also show you some of the development of a novice's work. Plus, there are also some truly touching moments that leap out at you unexpectedly. So if you want a quick, entertaining read that will surprise you sometimes (with funniness or poignancy) read Lake Wobegon Summer 1956.

Needs a PG-17 Rating!:
Please be warned: If you enjoyed family style listening to Keillor's older feel-good radio-style vinettes of Lake Wobegon, such as "Faith", "Rhubarb," and the like, DON'T play this for the family without reviewing it first. You are in for a suprise. Garrison has made off-color jokes in his monologues to a degree before, but not to this degree, freely talking about erections and much more here. And if he's not talking about the sexual awakings of boyhood, it seems he's giving a backhand jab to the "Sanctified Brethren." I tried, I really tried to pass over those parts (as I was listening to it on CD,) but they came so frequently, I just had to turn it off and leave it alone. Hopefully, Keillor will unburden himself in this CD, and get back to the family-oriented wholesomeness that I had come to love him for.

Lake Wobegon Summer 1956:
LAKE WOBEGON - SUMMER 1956 is a delightful fictional autobiographical thigh slapper of a 50s summer in one boy's life in a very conservative Minnesota town, watched over by Jesus himself, standing side by side with the author's granddad while passing out judgments. Although the main character in an autobiography is the writer himself, his intense focus however is on his cousin Kate and the trials and tribulations of her love life with the local hero, a talented baseball pitcher whose family puts hers to shame. The 14-year-old Gary, who composes pornographic poetry to fend off the school bully, adores the 17-year-old Kate for her boldness in standing firm against the conservative morality her overly religious family imposes on her. We sense a message that the author tailors into the story how both Gary and Kate use their individual talents to try to escape the rigorous boredom of the pious country life, each in their own way. Gary succeeds in becoming the town's paper's sports writer and Kate gets her lover to marry her. Unclear is the symbolic presence of his self-righteous older sister who is unrelenting in tormenting him. But pleasant is the array of eccentric and hilarious individuals with names worthy to be called dickensian, that populate his forsaken Midwestern town. In a story full of anecdotal historical tidbits of a summer with doo-wop and baseball and poems and family gossip, Kate represents the symbol of many a country bumpkin trying to shake off the restraints put on her. Reading atheist verses "and worldly novels by Hemingway, Cummings, Steinbeck and Kerouac", she has chosen to live a life free from the religious rigors of Luthern doctrine and in Gary's company even visits a Roman Catholic service which gives Keillor the opportunity to mock the world of blatant superstitions the town (and the nation?) is enclosed by. During a two page comparison, he gives the reader also a chance to reflect on his or her own stance and the valor people associate with organized religion.

Funny and Startling at the Same Time:
I really enjoy Garrison Keillor's writing, and this book is no exception. What I enjoyed most were his moments of enlightenment. For example, when he realized his father didn't like to be around people crying because he was afraid he'd cry himself, I got a real sense of this boy growing up. His ability to perceive things going on around him, yet not letting these things get to him in a negative way, prove he is a true writer in the making in that Summer of 1956. In addition, Garrison's character development is superb. As a reader, you get a real sense of what these people are really like. In some ways, you wish you could know the characters...then again, maybe not...hehehe. The startling aspect of this book is the amount of sexual content, but alas, this is a teenage boy we're referring to, so I took it as a reflection of the character himself, not as an attempt to shock. All in all, it's a good read. Not excellent, but definitely entertaining.