Liberty

Garrison Keillor is the voice of the heartland, and his latest novel is laugh-out- loud hilarious and deeply touching--a little masterpiece of Americana. Keillor's unique voice has such range that he can characterize many types of dialogue--from a woman's whispered thoughts to a rough-hewn farmer's drawl. Like Chaucer and Dickens, Keillor creates a community. We know these people; we are these people. Clint Bunsen is stunned when he's ousted from his position as long-standing chair of the Fourth of July committee. CNN televised the parade the year before, and nerves are jumpy as the town goes about trying to put its best foot forward. Unpredictable conflicts and connections emerge in the community, where everyone knows a little too much about everyone else. Listeners will love this visit to Lake Wobegon, especially as performed by America's master storyteller. M.S.W. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

August 18, 2008
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.