Customer Reviews

We Are Still Married: Stories and Letters

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This work represents a *hodgepodge* of Garrison Keillor works that would not have fit well published in any of his other books. If you are looking for a book about the life and times of Lake Wobegon, MN, this is not it. Even so, there are a good many short pieces in this book that make it a DEFINITE ASSET to your collection. My favorites include "The Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra" (a hilarious parody on "The Young Musician's Guide to the Orchestra"), the poem "The Old Shower Stall", the essay on sneezing, the essay on letter writing, and Keillor's commentary on being voted one of the sexiest men in America. Though not typical in his established "The News From Lake Wobegon" story form, the poetry and prose in this collection are definitely typical Keillor humor!

Not really fair to review this now - I'm a bit hazy on it. Because it's an anthology of humorous/whimsical articles and a few daydream stories, I wisely only read it in small doses over a while - the pieces suffer if you read too many in a row, and weren't written for this. Still it means I'm not as up on exactly why it got an A-.
 
Several pieces are definitely not worthy of an A, though few would drop below a B. I recall really relishing 'Who do you think you are?', a reflection on dealing with the assumption of mediocrity. 'The Current Crisis in Remorse' was a clever satire on the much (legitimately) pilloried denial of guilt in the courts. How to write a letter was on the money, and particularly the first of 'Three Marriages' was quite touching and felt authentic.
 
He's in the same category as P.J. O'Rourke, but less biting, and his humour is not so much the clever one-liner as a slow characterisation. He rides on the edge of sentimentality but somehow rarely crosses it, managing warmth and definitive whimsicality.

And listening, Garrison, to your weekly escapades in Lake Wobegon.

But, of course, this book is not a member of the elite Lake Wobegon Trilogy (Wobegon Days, Leaving Home, Wobegon Boy), but something else entirely.

The stories here are terrific. Some laugh-out-loud funny, some touching.

The story "He Didn't Go to Canada", the story of the author's 'grueling' experience in the Minnesota Elite Guard had a special resonance to me. I can't say too much, lest I spoil it.

Letters From Jack is great too. A collection of less-than-inspiring one-way correspondance from Prarie Home Companion's first sponsor, Jack's Auto Service.

"Your Book Saved My Life, Mister" is a cute treatise on the price of fame that comes with being a book author. Though I must say, if you have the opportunity, hear this story read out loud by the author sometime. It's on his tape, Stories, and it just works better when listening to it.

A few of the stories drag on a bit, and are less than entertaining, as do some of the poetry. Nonetheless, if you are looking for a book to make you smile, laugh, or sigh, this is the one.

Let me leave you with this: "I think you're the best lyric poet in the world, but your critical essays REALLY suck." Read the book. You'll get it.

Mr. Keillor's collection is broken down into five sections. The first is entitled "Pieces" and are not his best work. The stories are quite surreal with a few gems of text. In the second section, "The Lake", the author finds his stride with very funny, insightful vignettes of Lake Wobegon residents. The third, "Letters", are wonderful nonfiction columns about a wide variety of subjects. Mr. Keillor's talents shine in this forum. He can take the most mundane situation and cull funny, heartwarming messages. The forth section, "Poems", was okay, but this has more to do with my indifference to most poetry. However, his gets extra points in my book for starting off with a scatological composition. The final collection, "Stories", is a mixed bag. Some of the works were wonderful; others were blah. However, Mr. Keillor is such a talented writer that even his more boring pieces had some great bon mots. The author's work are not the kind of material the reader should rush through. I could practically hear his lackadaiscal voice while reading. It made for a much more pleasurable experience.

This was the first book I've read by Garrison Keillor, and while it was slow in parts - there were some definite laugh out loud stories. I was completely amused that he used the F word, too ;)

Before he decided to throw in the towel and become what his fans wanted him to be, Garrison Keillor really wanted to see himself and his society from the outside. He spent a lot of time in New York and Denmark. In that, as we learn in this book, he became who he thought he wanted to be.

In our collective lives of quiet desperation, most of us don't get that chance. We don't have the money, talent or perceived time to do so. But Keillor did.

The ostensible lesson is that who we are IS who we want to be. But these notes were written before he drew that conclusion. My favorite passage is called "Episcopal," where he makes up new words to an old Fats Waller tune to describe the attractions of being Episcopalian:

I'm slow to anger
Don't covet or lust.
No sins of pride except sometims I really must.
Episcopalian, saving my love for you.
The theology's easy, the liturgy too.
Just stand up and kneel down and say what the others do.
Episcopalian, saving my love for you.

With this, Keillor sums up the current (and probably end) state of his career.

Oh, hear that old piano, from down the avenue...
I smell the dry rot, I look around for you...

This book was written before he gave up, and you'll enjoy it.

Keillor is simply an excellent storyteller -- what more can I say?

While this collection is not, perhaps, his best stuff (I recommend "Lake Wobegon Days" for beginners), the stories are nevertheless endearing and well-crafted.

Fans of Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" tales may well be disappointed by this ragtag collection of essays, poems and stories. It seems that Keillor's bottom drawer has been cleared out and pressed into service by Faber and Faber to provide a stopgap measure until the next bona fide book about the immensely popular Midwest town.

A lot of the entries here are just plain bizarre or pointless. If you manage to get through 'Pieces' and 'The Lake', then admittedly some of the letters and poems are very funny indeed. The closing section - stories - contain some passable (if unsubtle) satires. But there is no obvious theme to the collection, nor any kind of link between pieces. It is the sort of book that is usually rushed out after a writer's death in order to cash in on morbid interest created by his demise. But, as far as I know, Keillor is very much alive.

Barely a quarter of the contents are blessed with the author's dry, acerbic wit, and the reader has to wade through endless baseball stories and punchline-free shaggy dog stories to hit the occasional pot of gold. Faber's motivation in publishing this volume is obvious - to keep the Keillor bandwagon rolling along - but in disappointing loyal fans and alienating new ones, their plan may well backfire.

Mark Campbell (Freelance Writer)

Fans of Garrison Keillor's "Lake Wobegon" tales may well be disappointed by this ragtag collection of essays, poems and stories. It seems that Keillor's bottom drawer has been cleared out and pressed into service by Faber and Faber to provide a stopgap measure until the next bona fide book about the immensely popular Midwest town.

A lot of the entries here are just plain bizarre or pointless. If you manage to get through 'Pieces' and 'The Lake', then admittedly some of the letters and poems are very funny indeed. The closing section - stories - contain some passable (if unsubtle) satires. But there is no obvious theme to the collection, nor any kind of link between pieces. It is the sort of book that is usually rushed out after a writer's death in order to cash in on morbid interest created by his demise. But, as far as I know, Keillor is very much alive.

Barely a quarter of the contents are blessed with the author's dry, acerbic wit, and the reader has to wade through endless baseball stories and punchline-free shaggy dog stories to hit the occasional pot of gold. Faber's motivation in publishing this volume is obvious - to keep the Keillor bandwagon rolling along - but in disappointing loyal fans and alienating new ones, their plan may well backfire.

How disturbing to be "the first" [as my screen now declares] to submit a review. Where are the other lovers of dry, wry, commentary rendered into delightful prose? This special book is a warm, thoughtful compendium: Keilor Mark II. The section/chapter on the art of writing a letter, alone, is a book unto itself: almost mandatory for parents. To say more would spoil the surprise of opening virtually any page and the joy of reading on. C'mon folks, get in touch with your humanity.