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Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon by Garrison…
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Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon (Lake Wobegon Novels) (original 2007; edition 2008)

by Garrison Keillor

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5931815,135 (3.35)8
Member:MarkD248
Title:Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon (Lake Wobegon Novels)
Authors:Garrison Keillor
Info:Penguin (Non-Classics) (2008), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 256 pages
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Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon by Garrison Keillor (2007)

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Showing 1-5 of 18 (next | show all)
I am already a big Garrison Keillor fan, so I've been looking forward to reading this book. My high expectations were not disappointed - this was wonderful. Not necessarily high literature, as a previous reviewer has noted, but still charming and witty. I could hear Keillor's voice in my head, reading aloud to me. This would be a fantastic book to listen to on a road trip. Preferably heading northwest. ( )
  cat-ballou | Apr 2, 2013 |
Over the years, I have only listened to Prairie Home Companion with half an ear, and I assumed it was a gentle bit of sweet down-home humor. If this book is any indication, I've been missing a lot of wickedly funny stuff, although I'm guessing that the radio show can't be quite as bawdy as this book sometimes is. In this book, a middle-aged alcoholic woman discovers that her late mother Evelyn led a racy secret life with a lover named Raoul. Even more shocking in Lake Wobegon, she was no longer an observant Lutheran, and her last wishes were for unusual funeral involving a bowling ball. Throw in pet aromatherapist from (of course) California, an Elvis impersonator, a hot air balloon and a couple of huge fiberglass ducks, and you have a laugh-out-loud entertainment with just a touch of redeeming social value. ( )
  CasualFriday | Sep 12, 2011 |
My favorite of Garrison Keillor's books that I have read so far. Pontoon quietly and thoughtfully builds up to a farcical climax that was inevitable from the moment the cover blurb stated "This is the story about the Lutheran ministers on the pontoon boat." It's impressive how well it manages both. ( )
  EstelleChauvelin | Jan 6, 2011 |
Not very good or interesting. I liked the radio show as well until I read this book and now I can't bear to listen to it anymore. Keiler seems to be obsessed with sex in this book, which kind of destroys the world of Lake Wobigon he paints in the stories on his radio show. A couple of funny jokes or a little innuendo would be fine, but I couldn't even read more than half of this book before getting disgusted with it. ( )
  homeofharris | Oct 23, 2010 |
Another pretty good Garrison Keillor novel about the good folk of Lake Wobegon. Keillor seems to have arrived at a favorite formula: Delve a bit into the lives and hidden dreams of some of the Lake Wobegon denizens, maybe have one of them act on a long-buried dream and dredge up all manner of old submerged hurts and pettinesses, wind up with a major town activity gone slapsticky awry (in this case, a burial at Lake Wobegon of cremation ashes stowed inside a bowling ball from aloft by a parasailer. I think three or four of Keillor's books have followed this pattern. But never mind, it's a nice pattern that I enjoy now and again. ( )
  burnit99 | Aug 11, 2010 |
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Evelyn was an insomniac so when they say she died in her sleep, you have to question that.
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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0670063568, Hardcover)

In his fourth Lake Wobegon novel, Garrison Keillor returns to the little town that time forgot.

The fictional Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon is real to millions of A Prairie Home Companion fans, who tune in each week for the latest news about its strong women and good-looking men. Like Sinclair Lewis's Gopher Prairie, it is part of literary legend. Four novels have been set among its quiet streets: Lake Wobegon Days, Wobegon Boy, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956, and now Pontoon.

Garrison Keillor's latest book is about the wedding of a girl named Dede Ingebretson, who comes home from California with a guy named Brent. Dede has made a fortune in veterinary aromatherapy; Brent bears a strong resemblance to a man wanted for extortion who's pictured on a poster in the town's post office. Then there's the memorial service for Dede's aunt Evelyn, who led a footloose and adventurous life after the death of her husband. Add a surprise boyfriend and a band of newly arrived Mormon missionaries, and the gently rendered chaos is complete.

Full of richly drawn characters, sly wit, and indelible descriptions of everyday life in the heartland, Pontoon is another unforgettable portrait of the little town we love.

(retrieved from Amazon Thu, 14 Feb 2013 13:44:14 -0500)

(see all 5 descriptions)

Astonished to learn that her impeccable mother led a secret life marked by her passionate love for a Las Vegas man and a private commitment to pleasure, Barbara elects to end destructive patterns in her own life while honoring her mother's final wishes.… (more)

(summary from another edition)

» see all 4 descriptions

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Two editions of this book were published by HighBridge.

Editions: 1598875221, 1598879340

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