The Book of Guys [Hardcover]

Garrison Keillor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 1993

Twenty humorous stories written by the well-known radio talk show host and author of Lake Wobegon Days tackle the subject of the American guy. 75,000 first printing. $75,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A loosely affiliated collection of pieces culled from Harper's and the New Yorker, The Book of Guys supplies Garrison Keillor's brand of pathos-inspired belly laughs in great measure. Since Keillor is not only, by all appearances, a mensch but also the possessor of an extremely amiable voice in his writing (and who can say, with him, where his prose voice ends and the aural one begins?), you tend to forget the darker elements of his work. In fact, those are the things that make his writing so amusing.

The Book of Guys parades a collection of Joe Nobodies, average guys like Garry Keillor, "sixteen, six foot two, with the metabolism of a wolverine." But these are guys with a darker side: longings, misgivings, psychoses. There's Lonesome Shorty, the cowboy who lusts for town life, but as soon as he settles down, the trail calls him again. Or the mayor of Zenith, who has everything a man could want, his life darkened solely by a senseless vendetta carried out by the editor of the local newspaper. "I have spent thirty minutes [writing this letter to the Editor] and my wife, her black hair tumbling over her bare shoulders touched with freckles under the pale-blue gossamer negligee hanging light as a leaf on her pale breasts and bold etcetera..." But Keillor's guys are too preoccupied with everyday angst to take hold of their good fortune. "In a minute, dear," says the mayor, continuing his screed.

The Book of Guys doesn't give one much faith in the future of male-dom, but it is funny. And don't let the paucity of competition fool you; Keillor's a humorist par excellence, a fine, thoughtful, and witty writer. --Michael Gerber

From Publishers Weekly

Bewailing the lost grandeur of manhood and lambasting the half-baked perversion known as '90s man, Keillor ( Lake Woebegon Days ) brings wit, the gift of storytelling and marksmanlike satire to this collection of 22 short fictions dissecting the current predicament of "guys." Invoking various archetypal guys--cowboy, sports hero, Greek god, Don Juan--he brings each into collision with contemporary values stressing sensitivity, openness, communication, monogamy, the empowerment of women and a healthy diet. The results are provocative and hilarious. Dionysus turns 50 and is forced to seek help for his sex and alcohol problems. Baseball legend Casey of Mudville is barraged with garbage at an away game. Cattleman Lonesome Shorty gives up the range to try condominium life. President George Bush goes fishing with an admiring Willie Horton while barbarians invade Chicago. Keillor takes delicious swipes at the media, fad causes, political correctness and American tabloid culture as he convincingly sketches the precarious state of his fellow males, longing for the days when they could just be guys. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 340 pages
• Publisher: The Viking Press; 1st edition (November 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 067084943X
• ISBN-13: 978-0670849437
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,907 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Garrison Keillor is the bestselling author of Lake Wobegon Days, Happy To Be Here, Leaving Home, We Are Still Married, Radio Romance, The Book of Guys and Wobegon Boy (available in Penguin Audiobook). He is the host of A Prairie Home Companion on American public radio and a contributor to Time magazine. He lives in Wisconsin and New York City.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great storytelling (as expected), but not his best..., August 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Book of Guys: Stories (Paperback)

Garrison Keillor is an excellent storyteller. I have loved my visits to Lake Wobegon, both through his books and his radio broadcast.

"The Book of Guys" is the kind of funny, well-crafted storytelling you would expect from Keillor. However, he is not at his best here.

These short stories tend to explore some areas that Keillor does not seem to be as comfortable in. They seem, at times, to be an exercise in which G.K. stretched his own limitations, experimenting with different types of characters and situations.

It's a very good book -- very funny, and very well-written. But if you haven't read Keiller before, I would recommend "Lake Wobegon Days" first.

Yet, even Keillor at his absolute worst (and "Book of Guys" is certainly not this!) would probably be worth reading. The man is simply a great storyteller!

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a master of the short story, but VERY funny, August 1, 2000

By 

Buckeye (Harvard, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: The Book of Guys: Stories (Paperback)

I like books that make me laugh out loud, though they're way too few and far between. This one had me laughing throughout, and for that reason alone it is well worth the read. And no, I don't think you'd have to be a guy to enjoy this one.

Keillor's writing, besides being very funny, is very literate and clever. Many of the stories come across in much the same way his radio skits and monologues do. But - I wouldn't say that he's quite mastered the written short story genre just yet. Quite a few of the stories have endings that read like Keillor just decided that the story had gone on long enough, so let's see if we can wrap it up in the next 20 words or so. They kind of leave you hanging.

However, stylistic demerits aside, this is one very funny book!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grain of Salt, October 31, 2004

By 

Brooklyn - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Book of Guys: Stories (Paperback)

Other reviewers are more than informative about the book's contents, so I'll be brief.

This book is for middle-aged men. As a guy leaving my own youth behind and headed into the middle years, the book is more relevant and funnier than it would have been even three years ago.

If you are a fan of Prairie Home Companion, be warned! This is NOT his usual sappy fare. A couple of pieces have that Garrison Keillor sheen we know and love, but for the most part, these pieces expose another side of Mr. Keillor's talent. Though his style has not changed, his subject matter does.

The book is at turns, funny, sappy, sad, disturbing. The honesty of his phrases, whether in a comedic or tragic moment, is very refreshing. His words get right to the truth of the matter and don't dress it up much. Not a bit of it is bad writing; it's all good, but you must be prepared for a wider definition of "good" than you might expect from works like Lake Wobegon Days and such.

And, finally, delivery is key. I found I "got it" when I imagined Mr. Keillor reading it to me, which is perhaps a weakness of his writing -- it must be delivered in his voice. So consider buying the audiotape of it -- you won't miss anything and you'll have the added benefit of experiencing these tales exactly as Mr. Keillor intended.