Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 Audiobook By Garrison Keillor cover art

Lake Wobegon Summer 1956

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Lake Wobegon Summer 1956

By: Garrison Keillor
Narrated by: Garrison Keillor
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Fourteen-year-old Gary, a self-described "tree toad" (lover of a perfect lawn, the soft-porn masterpiece of Carnal Cuties, his Underwood typewriter, and, above all, his rebellious cousin Kate), lives through one amazing Lake Wobegon summer. Gary preoccupies himself by spinning fantastic yarns about boogers, talking dogs, conversations between God and Jesus, and especially melodramas featuring himself as hero and Kate as distressed damsel. When the real Kate makes a terrible mistake, Gary learns a lot about love, heartbreak, and what it really means to rebel.

In his latest novel, Garrison Keillor describes the making of a writer who comes of age in classic Wobegon style. It's just what his fans have been waiting for: trademark wit, brilliant humor, great storytelling, and an extended stay in "the little town that time forgot and the decades cannot improve".

©2001 Garrison Keillor (P)2001 HighBridge Company Action & Adventure Literature & Fiction Witty Heartfelt Funny

Critic reviews

"Keillor's deep voice and slow, deliberate diction transport the listener to this sleepy small town being shaken up by rock and roll.... Heartwarming, poignant, and hilarious." (AudioFile Magazine)

"Vacillating between poignant, endearing, outrageous, and mocking, this thoroughly engaging, frequently hilarious bildungsroman is narrated by the libidinous, iconoclastic 14-year-old wannabe writer Gary." (Publishers Weekly)

Engaging Narration • Creative Writing • Engaging Writing Style • Fascinating Storytelling • Humorous Wit
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Seems to be preoccupied, as a teenager would be, with the excessive sexual urges and innuendos the descriptiveness of which takes away from the plot. I have enjoyed Garrison's work on both the radio and in books, but would turn on the parental controls for this one. Many of the backgrounds are common to his work and a walk down memory lane for the targeted age group.

Not for everyone. Rated PG 14

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Garrison Keillor at his best. A delightful read, taking one nack several decades. Get lost in this one. It's delicious.

Superb

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I have always appreciated the author, sincerely imagining myself a gratefull fellow citizen of woebegon for years.

THANK YOU GARRISON!, YOU HAVE ENLIGHTENED ME

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My wife and I started listening on a road trip with our 17 yr old daughter. Had to change to a different book because of the odd sexual content care of a recurring naration of stories from a magazine called "High School Orgies".

My wife and I did end up listening to the rest of the book on our own, but even upon finishing the novel, we were left scratching our heads, wondering why it was so sexually explicit.

Not that we a prudes or anything, but the explicit sexuality didn't seem necessary nor did it seem to add to the story - a story which was very meandering and left us wondering what was the point of that. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely love Keilor's writing style, creativity, and narration, but this one left us saying to each other "what was that about?"

Oddly Very Sexual and Meandering

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This was another of his books and expected the usual entertaining and light content. It started off fine but before long every story covered his sexual longings with great details... got tired of it- went on to some other story with less of his wet dreams.

As a Garrison Keillor fan I must say

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Loved the types of fart. I thought they were real funny. A good one to listen.

I appreciated the bodily function

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I am not what you would call a reader. I have a very long commute and my mother first got me hooked on audiobooks 10 years ago with Star Wars and then Stephen King. I have ventured away from that type of genre, but action adventure is my favorite. This book was a reach for me, but I ended up loving it. I never listened to any of his other stuff. I must admit, when his odd voice first started and he went into too many metaphors about everyday things, I questioned what I was in for. However, his voice grew on me quickly and his characters even quicker. This book actually had me laughing out loud as this early junior high aged "jesuit witness" battles the guilt of wanting to learn about sex and the guilty thoughts of his grandfather looking down on him from heaven shaking his head and saying things like what would your mother think about you looking at your own cousin like that. We've all been there and he brought that all back to me in such a fun way. Great fun and heart!

Very Nice Surprise for Me

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In his usual and customary droll Garrison Keillor leads us through a curious web of life for a teenager in Lake Wobegon. The "frog", Gary, at 15 is a wannabe writer who gets to write the sports column for the local baseball team while fantasizing his sexuality in stories written on an Underwood typewriter given him by his Uncle Sugar.

Life can can be difficult in this small town of 1200 where everyone knows each other and the local gossip travels faster than the telephone. This is Gary's pivotal teen year as he becomes involved with his cousin Kate and watches the world come down around him.

I found the story fascinating and have replayed it several times. A word of caution to readers with tender ears. The book in several places includes sexual content that could be disturbing to the "innocent minded". Please remember that this is written through eyes of a teenager. His thoughts are just like those of pubescent boys throughout the planet.

I usually buy the unabridged audio books narrated by the author. I find that it creates the mood the author intended; and as I travel I have the audio books for listening pleasure. I hope you enjoy "Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 as much as I did.

Spinning a fine web of tales of the lake

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A very thinly disguised semi-autobiography of a young Gary Keillor growing up in Lake Wobegon. The ancestors of familiar characters, familiar characters when they were young, and we finally know why all the women are strong, all the men good looking, and all the children above average.

GARRISON "GARY" KEILLOR AT HIS BEST

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not the usual stories. didnt like this one as much. sone of the stories didnt fit the vibe he usualky writes on.

More risque than usual

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