Lake Wobegon Days
Encyclopedia
Lake Wobegon Days is a novel by Garrison Keillor
, first published in hardcover
by Viking
in 1985. Based on material from his radio show A Prairie Home Companion
, the book brought Keillor's work to a much wider audience and achieved international success. Like some of Keillor's other books, it is unusual in that it could be said that the audiobook preceded the publication in written form.
The work is a humorous account of life in fictitious Lake Wobegon
, Minnesota
, a heartland
small town. Its early chapters are written in the form and style of a history of the town and later ones chronicle the lives, concerns, and activities of its inhabitants, with intergenerational tensions and relationships forming a major theme. Most of the latter material was originally delivered on radio in the form of monologues. Due to the nature of the original material, the second half of the novel has many recurring characters but little in the way of plot, resembling an incompletely integrated group of short stories.
Garrison Keillor
Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio personality. He is known as host of the Minnesota Public Radio show A Prairie Home Companion Gary Edward "Garrison" Keillor (born August 7, 1942) is an American author, storyteller, humorist, and radio...
, first published in hardcover
Hardcover
A hardcover, hardback or hardbound is a book bound with rigid protective covers...
by Viking
Viking Press
Viking Press is an American publishing company owned by the Penguin Group, which has owned the company since 1975. It was founded in New York City on March 1, 1925, by Harold K. Guinzburg and George S. Oppenheim...
in 1985. Based on material from his radio show A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion
A Prairie Home Companion is a live radio variety show created and hosted by Garrison Keillor. The show runs on Saturdays from 5 to 7 p.m. Central Time, and usually originates from the Fitzgerald Theater in Saint Paul, Minnesota, although it is frequently taken on the road...
, the book brought Keillor's work to a much wider audience and achieved international success. Like some of Keillor's other books, it is unusual in that it could be said that the audiobook preceded the publication in written form.
The work is a humorous account of life in fictitious Lake Wobegon
Lake Wobegon
Lake Wobegon is a fictional town in the U.S. state of Minnesota, said to have been the boyhood home of Garrison Keillor, who reports the News from Lake Wobegon on the radio show A Prairie Home Companion....
, Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...
, a heartland
Heartland (United States)
Heartland is an American term referring to states of the Union that – as in the words of one commentator – "don't touch an ocean," whether the Atlantic or Pacific...
small town. Its early chapters are written in the form and style of a history of the town and later ones chronicle the lives, concerns, and activities of its inhabitants, with intergenerational tensions and relationships forming a major theme. Most of the latter material was originally delivered on radio in the form of monologues. Due to the nature of the original material, the second half of the novel has many recurring characters but little in the way of plot, resembling an incompletely integrated group of short stories.
External links
- Garrison Keillor discusses Lake Wobegon Days on the BBC World Book ClubWorld Book ClubWorld Book Club is a radio programme on the BBC World Service. Each edition of the programme, which is broadcast on the first Saturday of the month with repeats into the following Monday, features a famous author discussing one of his or her books, often the most well-known one, with the public...