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Loading... Pontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon (Lake Wobegon Novels) (original 2007; edition 2008)by Garrison Keillor
Work detailsPontoon: A Novel of Lake Wobegon by Garrison Keillor (2007)
None. 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. ( )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. 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. 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. 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. no reviews | add a review
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![]() Audible.comAn edition of this book was published by Audible.com.
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