Guy Noir and the Straight Skinny

Keillor's novel about his aging private eye--equal parts silliness, satire, and lecherous daydream--gets a reading with multiple narrators accompanied by music and sound effects--just like Noir's vignettes on ÒA Prairie Home Companion.Ó Keillor's fine, deep voice; good timing; and dry comedic tone are a pleasure to listen to--though it's best when he avoids giving Noir his unconvincing New York accent. Some of the other acting is overbroad, though that's part of the fun. More problematic is the actors' stepping on one another's lines and the confusing similarity of most of the female characters, presumably played by the same person. But taken with the right lack of seriousness, this silly grin of a book should amply amuse listeners, especially those of a certain age. W.M. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

July 30, 2012
Garrison Keillor’s trademark dry humor and facility for recreating old-time radio shows—background organ music and all—are on display in this lighthearted, entertaining expansion of a popular skit from A Prairie Home Companion that parodies hard-boiled gumshoes like Sam Spade and Mike Hammer. St. Paul private eye Guy Noir, voiced by Keillor in an appropriately gruff and world-weary manner, is introduced in classic pulp fashion: he tells listeners he’s looking down the barrel of a gun and then explains how things went wrong. Character names like Joey Roast Beef, Naomi Fallopian, and Sugar O’Toole make the parody somewhat less than subtle, but Keillor is well-complemented by Tim Russell and Sue Scott, each of whom play multiple parts as they relate Noir’s experience with a new, radical weight-loss solution (a tapeworm that can be removed from the stomach after another pill is swallowed). While Keillor’s deadpan delivery, isn’t as hilarious as that of Leslie Nielsen, the result is a thoroughly enjoyable listen. A Penguin paperback.

November 1, 2012

Guy Noir, subject of one of A Prairie Home Companion's series of radio plays, is featured in his own book. As usual, the private dick is broke and has to pay his bar tab before he can wet his whistle again. He becomes entangled with Naomi Fallopian, who has figured out an ingenious plan for weight loss that will make millions (think tapeworms being purposefully introduced into one's digestive system). Guy simply has to guard the tapeworm from which all the moneymakers will be grown. The usual crowd of goons and lowlifes with whom he associates contribute to an increasingly complicated story. VERDICT Noir may be best in small doses; most listeners will grow weary after hearing too many fart jokes. There is also more sex than usual in this latest title from Keillor. Whether listeners find the Runyonesque dialog and plot funny will depend on individual tolerance for puns, some rather old jokes, and Keillor and company's talented narration. Strictly marginal except for major fans of Guy Noir.--B. Allison Gray, Goleta Branch, Santa Barbara P.L. Syst., CA

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