Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Soulful, September 16, 2000
If you've ever gone for a late afternoon walk in a small town anywhere in America and have looked up and had your breath taken away by the wonder of a full moon hanging there in the quiet light like a ghostly, faded postage stamp, if you've ever shopped in a store that has a hand painted sign above its door, where they make their own bread and slice their own meat, or if you've ever felt that the quiet, shady moment you're inhabiting could almost explode with possibilities, then you might want to check out Garrison Keillor's Lake Wobegon Days. This is a truly brilliant book that celebrates the quirks and idiosyncrasies of small town American. Part town history, part family remembrance, Lake Wobegon is imbued with a warm, sly humor that picks at the silliness and the earnestness that are woven so tightly together in small town American life. Although I found this book immensely entertaining, and times quite moving, I should mention it took me about three months to read. Keillor's immensely appealing voice, story-telling ability and sense of humor kept me at all times very interested, but there isn't really a plot to speak of. I had to keep other books going on the side to give me my plot fix. This was the only aspect of the book that I thought might put off readers otherwise disposed to read the book and enjoy it. But don't let this deter you. Believe me, the book is definitely worth whatever time you take to read it.
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18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Charming, small-town storytelling, August 24, 1999
By A Customer
I hope to one day live in Lake Wobegon. It seems to be just the sort of backwards, yokel, land-that-time-forgot sort of place that I would feel right at home in. Keillor's journey through Lake Wobegon is warm, nostalgic, funny, and poignant. The characters are well-crafted -- sometimes lovable, sometimes zany, sometimes despicable, always believable and real. Don't appraoch this book looking for a deep, moving plot. Approach it as a tour through a quaint town -- a look at its history, pride, culture, and even those bits that are swept under the rug. Read it, and it'll grow on you.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very accurate, droll look at small town life., August 14, 2002
For anyone raised in a small Midwestern town, as I was, this book is fascinating. It is dryly humorous, and never truly abrasive, as it wends its way through anecdotes of small town life and personal foibles. If you're looking for Doestoyevskyan character studies, as one reviewer seemingly was, go elsewhere. But if you want te meet people, and institutions, that you loved, or scorned, or simply observed in passing, this is your sort of book. You'll remember these folks and their stories a long time after you have forgotten more in-depth characters. I have often said there are two books anyone wanting to know about life in a small town should read; Main Street, by Sinclair Lewis, and this book. Main Street is negative in chief, whereas this book is wistful, gently amusing, and equally accurate, if not more so. It is a very underrated work, and I recommend it most thoroughly.
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