Word: keillors
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...hidden not too deeply in Keillor's amusing anecdotes lies a dark, growling edge of conservatism that could border at times on sexism, if one reads deeper into his pithy one-liners. For example, a distant relative is glorified because he, "on his last day, enjoyed beer and victory at cards and held a young woman in his arms." In addition, clever stabs at flaky New-Agers and oversensitive liberal types become dry, overused and almost bitter long before the novel's end. At one point, a ditzy secretary who later claims that John, the narrator, is trying to "power...
...look past these expected barriers, Wobegon Boy can prove to be quite an entertaining read. But the question remains--can the average, non-Midwestern reader appreciate Keillor's morality-twinged humor...
...knows anything about Keillor's style of writing, the story line may be rather style of writing, the story line may be rather predictable: Midwestern Boy Named John Makes Good, Midwestern Boy Longs for Home and 'Real Lutheran Values,' Midwestern Boy Gets in Trouble at Work with Liberal Bores, Midwestern Boy Goes Home and Realizes Meaning Of Life, Midwestern Boy Finally (and Unexplainably) Gets Great Elusive Girl...
...characters Keillor creates are often caricatures, but that is exactly what makes them so funny to read about. He takes people whom the modern world would normally take seriously--John's co-workers at the radio station, for example--and outlines them in 3-word descriptions. John's beer-drinking buddies from back home, however, are punctuated with long and often hysterically funny anecdotes. "Bug lotion has no effect whatsoever on those Florida flies," one old man mentions over beers at the local bar. "A crucifix helps, but you have to hit them really hard with it." The locals become...
...Keillor's charmingly lucid writing, however, cannot hide the gaping flaws of the plot and main characters in Wobegon Boy. Almost halfway through the novel, a magazine with a front-page picture and article appears one day, depicting John as a "portly Lutheran Lothario" who "tried to 'psychologically seduce'" women at the public radio station where he works. However, up to that point in the book, readers are lead to believe that John is kind, quiet, in love with his girlfriend Alida, and not coming close to stepping on anyone's toes along the way. This sudden, almost violent disclosure...