Rating: 
Summary: Amusing to read, but does it lead to somewhere?
Review: Plenty of quirky stories to read in this novel, but I am not sure of what the author is trying to say. It is apparent that the inhabitants of Lake Wobegon are interesting and eccentric characters shaped by religion and appears near-insane to the kids. Keillor writes solely about this town and its stories and includes himself in some as well. According to the ending, I can see religion plays a big part in their lives, but I don't know specifically what part. The author reveals just enough, but not satisfactorily enough for a meatier story.
Rating:
Summary: Amusing to read, but does it lead to somewhere?
Review: Plenty of quirky stories to read in this novel, but I am not sure of what the author is trying to say. It is apparent that the inhabitants of Lake Wobegon are interesting and eccentric characters shaped by religion and appears near-insane to the kids. Keillor writes solely about this town and its stories and includes himself in some as well. According to the ending, I can see religion plays a big part in their lives, but I don't know specifically what part. The author reveals just enough, but not satisfactorily enough for a meatier story.
Rating: 
Summary: Dullsville USA
Review: The American small town has something of a mixed reputation in popular culture. On the one hand, it has been celebrated as the repository of all that is best in the American national character. On the other, it has long been a standard literary and Hollywood cliché that the more idyllic and tranquil a small town appears on the surface, the more likely it is to prove to be a place of rampant corruption, raging hatreds and illicit sexual passions. This cliché was at its height in the 1940s and 1950s in films such as King's Row and Peyton Place, and is still to be found even today; Mr Keillor's home state of Minnesota was recently the target of some particularly crude and ill-natured satire in the film Drop Dead Gorgeous. Mr Keillor's book is set in the fictional small town of Lake Wobegon, Minnesota. It is not an easy book to categorise. It is certainly not a conventional novel, but rather consists of a spoof history of his fictional town, followed by a lengthy series of anecdotes and personal reminiscences set in and around it, organised either by theme or by the time of year when they take place. The author's intention seems to have been to give a realistic but humorous view of small-town life, avoiding the traps of portraying Lake Wobegon either as an earthly paradise or as a sink of depravity. Unfortunately, although he succeeds in avoiding these traps, he does not succeed in injecting much humour into his account of the town. The book has been described as "gently humorous": in this context, the adverb seems to be simply a euphemism for "not very". The fictional history of the town struck me as being particularly dull reading, lacking in either wit or satirical bite. (I have some sympathy with those readers who gave up reading the book in the first hundred pages or so). The remainder of the book improves somewhat, and there are some genuinely funny passages. (I enjoyed, for example, Mr Keillor's satire at the expense of the narrow, bigoted religious sect in which he grew up). These passages, unfortunately, are far between, and much of the intervening material is just padding. Besides the two stereotypes of small-town life quoted above, there is a third stereotypical view: that small towns are dull, boring places where nothing of any interest ever happens. This is a view that Mr Keillor has, perhaps inadvertently, perpetuated in this book.
Rating:
Summary: Book is a mix of good and bad
Review: The book is a collection of short vignettes about a midewest town. Overall I gave the book a 3, but it's really a mix of some perfectly awful stories (1 star), some heartwarming stories through a child's eyes (3 and 4 stars) and some hilarious stories that'll split your sides (5 stars). I never did find the most famous quote from Lake Wobegon: namely that all the children there are above average. If you find it, please email me at asalwin@juno.com with its whereabouts.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as its reputation
Review: This book came highly recommended but I found it wanting. While reading this collection of related stories about small town life in the midwest, I did manage to find a few gems. These few were good because they provided me with insight on real people without judging them. However, it seems that in the vast majority of the tales, Mr Keillor is looking down his nose at the participants. Often it seems Mr Keillor is making fun of their idiosyncrasies by exaggerating them. Sometimes, the book was even unpleasant to read because the characters were defenseless against Mr Keillor's unrelenting assault. I can not recommend this book but would urge readers who want a good look at small town/country life and the real people that live there to check out James Herriot. It is Yorkshire, England and not midwestern US but the insight's of the writing are unbeatable.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow and disappointing
Review: This book came highly recommended from a friend who knows me well. I really wanted to like it. I really wanted to push through. I've enjoyed Garrison Keillor on the radio. Why did I struggle? I don't know. I am an avoid and voracious reader, but I couldn't get past 6 pages in 3 readings. I blamed myself for the first 2 attempts, but I blamed the author after the 3rd and pitched the book. Just too slow.
Rating:
Summary: Slow and disappointing
Review: This book came highly recommended from a friend who knows me well. I really wanted to like it. I really wanted to push through. I've enjoyed Garrison Keillor on the radio. Why did I struggle? I don't know. I am an avoid and voracious reader, but I couldn't get past 6 pages in 3 readings. I blamed myself for the first 2 attempts, but I blamed the author after the 3rd and pitched the book. Just too slow.
Rating: 
Summary: Keillor uses humor to describe his home town and his life.
Review: This book gives a very humorous look at Keillor's life back at Lake Wobegon. It's hard to say that there is a real storyline. Basically it is just little stories that Keillor picks out from his childhood and early adulthood and then organizes them into chapters called "School" and "Fall" and "Summer" and so on. Keillor uses the stories to not only describe the town he lived in, but the people who were also lived there. Keillor uses so much detail you feel like you know the characters personally. And anyone who has lived in a small town can identify with Lake Wobegon and its small-town life. Keillor tells stories that everyone can identify with and that is where the humor comes from. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and strongly recommend it.
Rating: 
Summary: This is one of the best books I have ever read.
Review: This book is as subtle as summer rain, with the typical easy-going style of Mr. Keillor. He is truly a master of empathy, and also in mesmerizing us to follow his path to understand human beings. It is also a remarkable feat how he takes little things in life and makes them incredibly dramatic. When the drama and emotional suspense reaches its peak, however, he manages to avoid cliches and unnecessary overdramatization by his unique humour and warmth. This is a book I wholeheartedly recommend
Rating:
Summary: A Prairie Home Reference Manual
Review: This is the book that seemed to spark so much interest in the public radio show and the strange cast of charaters in and around Lake Wobegon. It stands some years later as something of a landmark in literary humor. There are few who can craft a story this funny and yet of this high a literary quality. True, the story in the book hops from place to place and seems disjointed at times, but I believe this is intentional. A stright narrative with a central plot would not quite relay the quirkiness of the characters. As it is, the format seems perfect.
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