Wobegon Boy

This 1997 release is Keillor's first full-length novel. Earier books were collections of "News from Lake Wobegon" stories previously heard on public radio. I liked Wobegon Boy and following John Tollefson who leaves Lake Wobegon to take a job managing a new public radio station in upstate New York in order to avoid getting married to a high school sweetheart and regular bedmate.

Plenty of dry humor. He is so scared to bring his New York girlfriend to Lake Wobegon, but the happy ending couldn't have occurred if she never came.

I liked how Keillor used the imagery of Tollefson's history in the rural Midwest to introduce new ideas to upstate New York, like a restaurant built all around serving fresh sweetcorn. Never mind that such a thing show more good never actually survive as anything more than a hobby for a rich man IRL.

The story about Tollefson having to deal with sexual harassment charges in public radio and the college owned station wanting to change from primarily classical music to all talk seems like an unsightly foreshadowing of Keillor's own life when he was called out in the #MeToo movement and his final advice to the public on the matter is to never be friends with any women you work with.

The 2006 Audio book was of high quality with Keillor reading the work himself, as a radio actor would be one to do. show less

The Lake Wobegon parts were by far the better sections of this novel... the storytelling, shaggy dog stories, and ambling narratives flowed easily here, while still revealing the emotional complexity of a man who grew up and left home and doesn't learn the man his father was until it's too late. The New York state parts were mostly funny for the public radio satire, but felt flat compared to the rest. The relationship with Alida was a cipher throughout.

Read during Fall 2003

Sweetly charming and moving novel about John Tollefson, who leaves native Lake Wobegon for small town Upper New York State. There is much of late 80's yuppie life gently satirized with fresh vegetables and public radio and wood floors and upper class life in Manhattan but the subtle life revelations when John returns home for visits are the true story. After being so dissapointed by WLT, this was truly enjoyable read. Funny and charming.

John Tollefson is the manager of an academic public radio station. He has an idyllic life that is boring him to tears. His job, his home, his relationships, all are going well - so well that he no longer feels like he is in the drivers seat. Coasting through everything his life lacks depth and more importantly, it lacks meaning. John, with the help of his can't-commit-to-marriage girlfriend Alida, sets out to make his life more interesting by opening a farm restaurant and other daring risks. John is perpetually guided by history, the life stories of his ancestors - a butcher, publisher, politician, among a wild cast of others, and a philosophical slant unlike any other.

This is the book that Garrison Keillor has been hinting all along that he is capable of, with his "Prairie Home Companion" bits about Norwegians in Minnesota and his comic pieces from earlier books. Finally he has put it all together in an intelligent, integrated story full of quirky charm and eccentricity, and has more then a mild autobiographical feel to it, at least in the main character. John Tollefson, son of Byron and Mary of Lake Wobegon, makes his escape to the east where he is the manager of a public radio station. His love affair with Alida and his attempts to carve out a satisfying life for himself away from the womb of Lake Wobegon, and his return there for his father's funeral, give depth and passion to a very funny and show more real novel. show less

If I understand the premise of the story, than it is supposed to describe how the values of a Mid Western Lutheran Boy hold up in a different setting. The error in this premise is that the main character never had the values of a mid western Lutheran boy. His values are the same as all those around him, and he is simply a reflections of the culture around him with a Minnesotan accent. He does have memories of his parents who are the ones who have the Lutheran values. John, the title character is somewhat pompous and condescending. He dubs those who do hold to "Lutheran " values ad "Dark Lutherans" To the authors credit, there are some very humorous moments in the story. That and the sections that deal with John going back for a funeral show more and learning more about his parents and grand parents are entertaining and keeps this story form falling into disappointing show less

Curious about Garrison Keillor, since I heard some of his stories years ago on the radio.A relaxed book with entertaining characters and a simple development of the main character. Charming slices of life.