Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye [Abridged, Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Garrison Keillor (Author, Performer), Walter Bobbie (Performer)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 1994

Grammy® Award nominee!

It's a dark night in a city that knows how to keep its secrets, but high above the mean streets, a light burns on the 12th floor of the Acme Building, where Guy Noir—hard boiled, world-weary, yet surprisingly articulate—is trying to find the answers to life's questions. In his big swivel chair under the bare bulb beside the beat-up gray file cabinet, he awaits the call of his clientele: the disappointed, the paranoid, the embittered, the rejected—and the hilarious.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Grammy Award Nominee for the Best Spoken Comedy of 1995 [brought to you by HighBridge Audio]. -- NARAS

About the Author

GARRISON KEILLOR is America's favorite storyteller. For more than 35 years as the host of A Prairie Home Companion, he has captivated millions of public radio listeners with his weekly "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues. Keillor is also the author of several books and a frequent contributor to national publications including Time, The New Yorker, and National Geographic, in addition to writing his own syndicated column. He has been awarded a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment of the Humanities.

GARRISON KEILLOR is America's favorite storyteller. For more than 30 years as the host of A Prairie Home Companion, he has captivated millions of public radio listeners with his weekly "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues. Keillor is also the author of several books and a frequent contributor to national publications including Time, The New Yorker, and National Geographic, in addition to writing his own syndicated column. He has been awarded a National Humanities Medal from the National Endowment of the Humanities.

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Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: HighBridge Company; Original radio broadcast edition (September 14, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156511115X
• ISBN-13: 978-1565111158
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,149,706 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Funny, and something very different from Lake Woebegon!, February 6, 2001

By 

Ursula (Knightsen, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye (Audio Cassette)

I love GK's Lake Woebegon stuff, but this tape is even funnier! I've worn mine out by listening to it so many times, and am now having to order a new one! These stories are such a cheesy take-off on the old mysteries from radio's golden years, and it is totally hysterical that Pete gets killed in each episode. (I wonder if the creators of South Park got the idea to kill Kenny in each episode by listening to Pete get killed in each Guy Noir episode?!?!)

I'd give this five stars, but I don't like Garrison's "singing" at the beginning of each side of the tape -- although he has a nice speaking voice, his singing voice is awful, and the songs are too long (they're only 3-4 minutes at most, but that's 3-4 minutes too long!)

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Amusing in Small Doses, February 4, 2003

By 

George R Dekle "Bob Dekle" (Lake City, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye (Audio Cassette)

Guy Noir is sort of a Philip Marlowe/Sam Spade kind of a guy. His friend of 30 years, Pete, might pass for Miles Archer, Spade's late, lamented partner in "The Maltese Falcon." Each skit involves Guy confronting Pete over some incongruous issue. The duo devise deliciously alliterative dialog, but become belligerent, and the burgeoning bellicosity soon embroils them in a gun battle. They invariably wind up killing each other. Cliche's from the golden age of radio drama abound as the two "friends" deal with all sorts of modern day issues. My first thought upon listening to the first episode was "Dr. Phil meets Philip Marlowe."

The first two or three episodes had me laughing out loud, but the longer I listened, the less funny it became. Don't listen to the episodes straight through. Listen to them one at a time, and give yourself a couple of weeks between episodes.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not the Noir I know, December 3, 2005

By 

Lightholder - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Guy Noir: Radio Private Eye (Audio CD)

I love PHC and Guy Noir. Does anyone remember (or know where I can get) the St. Patrick's Day show he recorded in Dublin, Ireland? The Guy Noir skit on that broadcast was high-larious.

This particular collection is a 9-track running joke. It has its standout moments with fantastic feats of alliteration in a couple tracks and the old fashioned sound effects are fun . . . but, as another post here says, it gets less funny as it goes along.

The essence of comedy is brevity and most of these skits take too long. I recall the Guy Noir skits I heard on the radio being shorter, much more varied and having a bigger cast with more fantastic stories. Most of these tracks just drag on as if by taking longer to get to the punchline the same old shtick will become funnier; mostly, it doesn't work. Unless you're a real die-hard fan completing your PHC collection, this CD is a monotonous disappointment.