A Prairie Home Companion 25th Anniversary CD FROM THE PUBLISHER
One of the best live radio shows ever, this gala production is a must-have for Keillor fans. 2 cassettes.
SYNOPSIS
It began in St. Paul, Minnesota, a thousand weeks ago — July 6, 1974 — a live radio show inspired by the Grand Ole Opry. To mark the anniversary, here are 15 of Garrison Keillor's finest, funniest "News from Lake Wobegon" monologues (11 of them previously unreleased) — "O Captain, My Captain," "The Pastors on the Pontoon Boat," "Buddy Holly and the Pharaohs of Rhythm," "Thanksgiving," "Commencement Day," "The Protestant Dog," "The Lake Superior Canyon project," and more — along with songs and comedy and a 20-page commemorative booklet, all from the original live broadcasts.
FROM THE CRITICS
Library Journal
This anthology of material originally presented over the past 25 years on Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion radio show on Minnesota Public Radio is a delight from start to finish. The last cassette alone, which is a compilation of songs from various musical groups who have appeared on the show and the cast of the show, would make this production worth purchasing. But the stories from Lake Wobegon and other reminiscences by Keillor are equally wonderful vignettes of life in the Midwest. If there are natives of the region who may object to the author's often comical characterizations of the denizens of the "town that time forgot," they should just get over it and realize that Keillor is writing about small-town life in Anywhere, U.S.A., and lovingly at that. The stories range from the remarkably moving "Truckstop," about an elderly couple who become separated on a road trip, to the hilarious "Clarence Cleans His Roof," which taps into the hazards of the formidable winter weather of the Midwest. It is clear that careful selection was made of the stories to be included, from the many they could have chosen, to assure not only high quality but also balance in the anthology. Highly recommended.--Mark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NC Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.
AudioFile - AudioFile Review
As always, it's a treat to hear Garrison Keillor's contemplative voice as he reads 15 Lake Wobegon monologues from his radio series, "A Prairie Home Companion." It seems that some of the monologues in this collection, such as "The Living Flag," have been truncated to fit on the tapes. Instead, the producers might better have chosen to eliminate the musical numbers that go between the stories. Several of the tales in this collection have darker elements that remind the listener that Keillor's monologues aren't always the nostalgic picture of small-town life that his critics might claim. J.A.S. ﾽ AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
Read by Garrison Keillor
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