Liberty: A Novel of Lake Wobegon (Lake Wobegon Novels) (Paperback)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: hospitality suite, Lake Wobegon, Fourth of July, Miss Liberty (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clint Bunsen of Keillor's Lake Wobegon is planning his sixth Fourth of July celebration, but by the time it rolls around he's been booted from the planning committee; his wife, Irene, is chillier than ever; and his 60-something hormones have him lusting after the much-younger Angelica Pflame, whose commando performance as the Statue of Liberty in last year's parade is still a hot topic in the sleepy burg. In other words, everything's as you'd expect in a Keillor novel. There are quite a few subplots bubbling along quietly until everything erupts in a madcap denouement that combines elements of the Keystone Kops, I Love Lucy and Monty Python. Keillor's pacing and command of smalltown plot is impeccable; just at the moment when Clint's obsession with a genealogical discovery has become unbearable, the rug gets pulled out from under him. It's a Keillor novel that does what Keillor novels do: entertain and color nicely within the lines. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Clint Bunsen just turned 60, which, after 37 years married to his childhood sweetheart, turns out to be a dangerous age. He’s regretting having come back home from California, where he was set to go to art school after a hitch in the navy, those many long years ago. It was supposed to be a farewell visit, but Irene enticed him to a cabin, and in those days (1970s!) in central Minnesota, conjugal relations mandated marriage. Furthermore, Clint has used the Internet to contact last year’s Miss Liberty in Lake Wobegon’s annual Fourth of July parade, and one thing led to another to a motel night of ecstasy, and now, damned if he doesn’t want to take her up on fleeing to San Francisco with her, especially since Viola Tors bushwhacked him out of chairmanship of the parade committee, the only thing about Lake Wobegon he still enjoyed. Of course, wanting is simple, and doing isn’t. Liberty has much the same shape, that of a pell-mell rush to a pyrotechnical climax (this year’s parade), as the last Lake Wobegon chronicle, Pontoon (2007), which was so memorably wacky and affecting that it’s hard to believe the new one follows it by a full year. We should be grateful, though, since Liberty’s almost as funny and definitely as moving. --Ray Olson --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Reprint edition (June 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0143116118
• ISBN-13: 978-0143116110
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,537 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars amusing, but lightweight, September 22, 2008

By	David W. Straight (knoxville, tennessee United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel (Hardcover)

I was hoping for more here. I have Pontoon, which I'll read in the expectation that it should be better than Liberty. What struck me in Liberty was the feeling that there just wasn't anything very original and creative: I didn't encounter anything that I hadn't seen before, and so it was a bit like watching a TV sitcom with a canned laughtrack. Keillor is certainly capable of much better stuff than this.

The story centers around Clint Bunsen, who is in charge of the Lake Wobegon Fourth of July Celebration and Parade for the last time. Bunsen has turned 60, his marriage, the town, and his work no longer interest him very much. He's involved with a woman half his age and is contemplating running for Congress--certainly a change of pace. There are plenty of groups of people who want to take part in the festivities, and Bunsen has attracted no end of ire by trying to prune some of them out of the picture. He has also just received DNA test results which show that he is primarily of Hispanic rather than Scandinavian ethnicity, which comes as a shock. So--lots and lots of crises, all piling up at the same time.

There are ways to make a small town whimsically endearing. The best novel that comes to mind in this regard is T.R. Pearson's wonderful A Short History of a Small Place, about Neely, North Carolina. Neely, like Lake Wobegon, has its eccentric people, and those who go beyond eccentric to peculiar. So I find myself thinking "what is it exactly that makes Neely endearing and Lake Wobegon in Liberty not very endearing?" It may be that in Pearson's Neely, you and the townspeople care about the eccentrics--they are like family, a round-heeled cousin or an alcoholic uncle, but still family. In Lake Wobegon in Liberty, it's more a collection of odd individuals, and less community. So Liberty is fun, but it lacks the power of A Short History. If you've never read Pearson's great trilogy Short History, The Last of How It Was, and Off for the Sweet Hereafter, you're missing some magnificent storytelling indeed. If you want a more northern small-town setting, Klosterman's Downtown Owl, just out, is well worth reading. I'll read Pontoon, and I'm hopeful about that.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Clint Bunsen is a burner, September 23, 2008

By	Richard Cumming "richo" (cyberspace) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel (Hardcover)

Garrison Keillor puts the spotlight on Clint Bunsen in this latest Lake Wobegon novel. Clint feels unappreciated for his leadership as chairman of Lake Wobegon's July Fourth celebration. He has rubbed quite a few townsfolk the wrong way and Clint is having a rough time of it.

His brother Clarence wants Clint to buy out Clarence's share of Bunsen Motors, a business that isn't exactly thriving. Clint is bored with his wife and his life. He is turning 60 and he feels like he has missed out on his chance for happiness until he meets a lovely young woman on the internet....

Fans of A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION will enjoy this book. In contrast to PONTOON, the previous installment in the series, LIBERTY is much darker with a lot less laughs. Keillor's distinctive voice is there but where PONTOON was a romp, LIBERTY is more of a tromp. Clint's depressive persona drags the humor down. If you want to laugh check out PONTOON. If you want to indulge Clint's angst, check out LIBERTY.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars FIXING THE WAGON, September 20, 2008

By	Thomas E. O'Sullivan (Knoxville, Maryland United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Liberty: A Lake Wobegon Novel (Hardcover)

Wait, two books about Lake Wobegon...in the same year?, impossible, but still true. After PONTOON's somber assessment of where the sidewalks end in Lake Wobegon, Kellior follows up with a rousing, often funny and troubled return to Lake Wobegon with LIBERTY; a satire on small town life, big dreams, empty symbols and the effort put in by one man to turn his town upside down once a year.

To be honest, if this had not been an election year I don't think we would have seen this book as fast as we did, but, with politics in the air the timing couldn't be better. As for the topic, though, it's hot, but not broad, and not one that will reach out and grab new readers, but just us old hands and long time fans of his fictional town. The pivot on which this novel turns is like all Kellior's works, growing older, seeing change not only coming, but arrive on your doorsteps, bags in hand and looking to move in. From cars that are more cyborg than spark plugs and oil, to the internet's effects on the BOOM generation, Kellior takes a tent pole name from Wobegon, Clint Bunsen, and throws him head first into a "change of life". He's getting older, everyone is getting younger and his marriage and his life are falling apart. And on top of that he's losing ground on the one thing in his life that really matters... the fourth of July. The parade and the idea that a celebration should be just that and not merely socialable or political.

Bunsen is all American (even after he learns that his heritage may not be as pure as he once thought early on in the book) and Kellior funnels his own views and fears of the crisis times in America with some spot on observations on the current state of our fears and terrors about both our country and ourselves. For some this is going to smack of being preachy and creaky, but, pushing past the finger wagging, you will find some tender ideas, sweet moments and some hardcore and bitter truths.

In fact, in the last third of the book there is a shocking (truly, no lie, nearly dropped the book, had to read the line twice just to make sure and yes, it's true, OMG!) moment when Clint makes a very serious threat against another character that crosses that bright line between fiction and reality and will send a cold shiver through you - Lake Wobegon, it seems, is truly no longer an avenue of fond memories, but a living and breathing street, present time, present place. On top of that Kellior continues with his LAKE WOBEGON: AFTER DARK style of writing, dipping into the minds and sex lives of his town in, sometimes, graphic style.

But change, as Kellior likes to point out time and again in LIBERTY, is neither good nor evil, and like liberty itself, it needs each and every one of us to take point and stand watch, to forever remain on guard and not take oursevles so seriously that we lose everything that we've worked so hard for over a moment of crisis. That idea works just as well, at home, sitting on the porch, as it does walking around the world at large and, at last, in Lake Wobegon, change is good... but never free.

For fans, LIBERTY is another hit in the LAKE WOBEGON series, for those just passing through, you'll enjoy the fuss but miss the party. So, stop, sit for a spell and take your time. We made plenty.