Books – The Lake Wobegon Virus: A Novel
Bestselling author and humorist Garrison Keillor return to one of America’s most beloved mythical towns, beset by a contagion of alarming candor.
I have been following the authorship of Garrison Keilor for years had many a good laugh following the life of the Norwegians and Germans in the little town Lake Wobegone in Mist county, Minnesota. Somehow this book went under my radar so now I can’t wait to sit down and read it.
The Lake Wobegon Virus: A Novel
A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider is buying up farmland for a Keep America Truckin’ motorway and amusement park, estimated to draw 2.2 million visitors a year. Clint Bunsen and Elena the hometown epidemiologist to the rescue, with a Fourth of July Living Flag and sweet corn feast for a finale.
In his Lake Wobegon novel, Garrison Keillor takes us back to the small prairie town where for so long American readers and listeners have found laughter as well as the wry airing of our foibles and most familiar desires and fears—a town where, as we know, “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.”
