Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 [Import] [Hardcover]

Garrison Keillor (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Viking; First edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0571210147
• ISBN-13: 978-0571210145
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,985,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A story of life, November 1, 2001

By 

Ryan Smith (Kuna, Idaho) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 (Hardcover)

This was my first time reading a Garrison Keillor novel. I was pleasantly surprised at how good this book was. It follows the life of 14-year-old Gary as he grows up in the summer of 1956. I love how Garrison Keillor writes. The story moves along in a lazy manner. You almost don't even realize that the story is progressing. It is much the same as I remember spending my summers. The days blend together until suddenly you wake up and realize that the summer is half over, and then suddenly you're waking up for school early in the morning again. This would make for a boring novel if Keillor wasn't such a gifted storyteller. The characters are wonderfully human and I found myself laughing out loud as Gary described the adventures and personalities of his small town. And just when you think that the book is going to be nothing but a comedy, Keillor hits you with a profound lesson about life.

This was truly a great book. Some people may be offended by parts, but this book is about life and life isn't always innocent and pretty. Garrison Keillor did a terrific job writing this book and I definitely have to recommend it to everyone.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Sensational, Hilarious, Fabulous, Book!, August 28, 2001

By 

Eustacia Vye "Eusatcia Vye" (Encino, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 (Hardcover)

Question: How many adjectives does it take to describe Lake Wobegon Summer 1956? Answer : 1956 This book is so terrific, so delightful and special and funny and endearing and ...well, you get the idea. As always, Keillor writes with a light touch and as always, gets into your bloodstream as fast as a shot of B -12. I can't even begin to impart to you the hilarity awaiting you inside the covers of Lake Wobegon Summer 1956. But, ponder if you will, our hero Gary's list of "... ten known categories of flatulence." Gary's summer 1956 is filled with characters you won't soon forget. His pious family,although smothering, are hilarious. And Gary's adventures in pornography are wonderful. Buy the book and read it! You won't regret it!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AMUSING BUT RATHER BORING, November 26, 2001

By 

Sandra D. Peters "Seagull Books" (Prince Edward Island, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 (Hardcover)

"Lake Wobegon:Summer 1956" did contain a share of laughs and amusing moments, but overall, the book failed to hold my interest. It cound best be described as "Woe, be gone!" The book is filled with sexual fantasies and dreams of exuberant youth, but the adolescent fantasies soon became tiring and mundane. The reader keeps hoping a plot of more substance will unfold but, alas, it does not. The scenario almost seems like an attempt to reproduce the theme of a terrific older book, "Summer of 42", but Keillor's book lacks the strong setting, characters, intrigue, and raw, sentimental emotion found in "Summer of 42".

"Summer 1956" makes for a quick, light-hearted read, but it is probably not a book that will stand the test of time. Read it, if you will, but do not expect to find anything memorable among the pages.