Happy to Be Here
by Garrison Keillor
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A collection of Keillor's writings--skewed reflections on our life and times.Tags
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Keillor is one of those authors you either "get" or you don't. Outing myself here as one who enjoys his melancholic whimsy.
Seems as if somehow other readers want this to be, or thought it is, something other than what it is. It is not 'stories.' It is not a companion to Lake Wobegon or even to Prairie Home Companion.
It is a whole bunch of very funny essays. Most (all?) are parodies and it does help, somewhat, to recognize the assorted source materials. For example Plainfolks" is inspired by the [b:Foxfire 3 (Foxfire|156163|Foxfire 3 (Foxfire (Paperback))|Eliot Wigginton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320390953s/156163.jpg|150697] series. And if you've never read serial comic books or pulp fiction magazines you'll not fully appreciate "Mission to Mandala." And GK isn't laughing at, but with, [a:Studs Terkel|33716|Studs show more Terkel|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225511511p2/33716.jpg] and LIFE magazine when he writes "How It Was in America a Week Ago Tuesday."
Don't let me discourage you, though. With an open mind, all are enjoyable. I know there are ones I don't 'get' but I love his writing style, his gentle and affectionate wit, and I enjoyed every one - even the baseball ones. And for many the source material is not necessarily all that specific. Witness the ubiquitous attitude in the US that 'we're number one' and you'll know that GK just couldn't help but write "U.S. Still on Top, Says Rest of World."
Charming & witty, Wise & humane.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519vgDxAQcL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticke..." show less
It is a whole bunch of very funny essays. Most (all?) are parodies and it does help, somewhat, to recognize the assorted source materials. For example Plainfolks" is inspired by the [b:Foxfire 3 (Foxfire|156163|Foxfire 3 (Foxfire (Paperback))|Eliot Wigginton|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320390953s/156163.jpg|150697] series. And if you've never read serial comic books or pulp fiction magazines you'll not fully appreciate "Mission to Mandala." And GK isn't laughing at, but with, [a:Studs Terkel|33716|Studs show more Terkel|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1225511511p2/33716.jpg] and LIFE magazine when he writes "How It Was in America a Week Ago Tuesday."
Don't let me discourage you, though. With an open mind, all are enjoyable. I know there are ones I don't 'get' but I love his writing style, his gentle and affectionate wit, and I enjoyed every one - even the baseball ones. And for many the source material is not necessarily all that specific. Witness the ubiquitous attitude in the US that 'we're number one' and you'll know that GK just couldn't help but write "U.S. Still on Top, Says Rest of World."
Charming & witty, Wise & humane.
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/519vgDxAQcL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticke..." show less
An early book by Garrison Keillor, consisting mostly of humor pieces that appeared in "The New Yorker" magazine. These pieces are clever and witty and shallow, reminding me of Art Buchwald. The exceptions are three (autobiographical) stories at the end where Keillor seems to reveal a bit more of himself. I liked the baseball pieces best of the humor bits.
Read during Fall 2003
Essays/Stories/News from Lake Woebegon/etc. Many laugh out loud funny. I esp. like Jack Schmidtt, Arts Administrator.
Essays/Stories/News from Lake Woebegon/etc. Many laugh out loud funny. I esp. like Jack Schmidtt, Arts Administrator.
amusing but not his best
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187+ Works 22,995 Members
Humorist Garrison Keillor was born Gary Edward Keillor in Anoka, Minnesota on August 7, 1942. He began using the pen name Garrison at the age of thirteen. He received a B.A. from the University of Minnesota in 1966 and paid for his tuition by working at the campus radio station. In 1974, he wrote an essay for the New Yorker about the Grand Ole show more Opry, which led to his live radio program, A Prairie Home Companion. Stories from Prairie Home were collected and published, but his debut as a novelist was in 1985 with Lake Wobegon Days. His other novels include WLT: A Radio Romance, The Book of Guys, Wobegon Boy, Me by Jimmy (Big Boy) Valente, and Good Poems, American Places. He has also written the children's books Cat, You Better Come Home, The Old Man Who Loved Cheese, and The Sandy Bottom Orchestra. He won a Grammy Award for his recording of Lake Wobegon Days and was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame in 1994. Keillor received a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities in 1999. In September 2007, Keillor was awarded the John Steinbeck Award. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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- Original publication date
- 1981
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- Members
- 837
- Popularity
- 32,639
- Reviews
- 5
- Rating
- (3.38)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 11
- ASINs
- 11
