I've long been a fan of Garrison Keillor, and that was the original attraction of this book. This novel felt a little uneven for my tastes, though. Highlight for me included his newspaper accounts of the Lake Wobegon Whippets - written in beautiful, over-literacized English. Another was his descriptions of the childhood days he spent with Grandma and Aunt Eva. There was such a sweetness there.

Good, but not great. ( )

I've read several Keillor books and this is my favorite. It's hilarious. ( )

A touching and honest coming of age story. ( )

Garrison Keillor has really brought his considerable talents together on this one, ostensibly a memoir of the summer of his 14th year. At times poignant, but never sloppily so, self-deprecating humor abounds in this story, sometimes to a gut-busting degree. I went to Garrison Keillor's book-signing with this book, and I have never seen a more relaxed, charming, folksy, comfortable speaker. And he was fast on his feet, answering audience questions in such a way they were his. This was a week or so after the World Trade Center tragedy, and his response to a question about it (he was in NY at the time) had me, and the rest of the audience, holding back tears. Then he led us in "We Shall Overcome", and the tears spilled over, gladly so. He was gracious enough to sign all nine of my GK books, and I left happy and fulfilled. This story is entirely worthy of the feelings of that night, although he acknowledges that it is not totally a memoir. There are a few extraneous passages that seem out of place, but otherwise the book is darn near flawless. Darn funny too. ( )