The Book of Guys: 2stories

by Garrison Keillor

Book Overview

"Guys are in trouble these days," says Garrison Keillor. "Years ago, manhood was an opportunity for achievement and now it's just a problem to be overcome. Guys who once might have painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling are now just trying to be Mr. O.K. All-Rite, the man who can bake a cherry pie, be passionate in a skillful way, and yet also lift them bales and tote that barge." This brilliant collection confirms Keillor's reputation as an ingenious...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067084943X
• ISBN13: 9780670849437
• Release Date: November 1993
• Publisher: Viking Books
• Length: 340 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.7" x 8.7"

Customer Reviews

more laughs from the master storyteller

Garrison Keillor tells tales so well that he can even make male chauvinism laugh-out-loud hilarious. (I suppose that Comedy Central's "The Man Show" can do that, too, for the Neanderthal set). With titles such as "Buddy the Leper" and "Don Juan in Hell," the listener gets a strange mix of characters from all sides of the frustrated male experience in "The Book of Guys." Combined with Keillor's trademark voice and meditative delivery (a national favorite), you get an audio book guaranteed to please everyone, whether or not you hail from Lake Wobegon. A great recording for any guy, or married woman trying to better understand her husband's mind.

Laugh? Thought I'd Die

This is easily the funniest book I've ever read. I'm a totally devoted Prairie Home Companion fan and have been following Garrison Keillor's work for years. It's funny and I laughed out loud at almost every story. This is a priceless book and I recommend it highly.

Keillor departs from his 'act,' and it's great!

Fans of Garrison Keillor's radio shows and his Lake Woebegon stories will appreciate this dark departure from the all-smiles characters he usually talks about. The lonesome cowboy who can't decide whether to rope cattle or to collect china -- or -- when Dionysius the wine god turns 50. The stories are more 'way involved than I expected, and I'm thinking of buying several copies for Xmas gifts. If you've ever wondered about your relationship and whether anyone else feels like 'guys can't win,' this spells it all out. Gawd, it's funny!

a keeper

So good I typed a lengthy passage of Don Giovanni's chapter and sent it to every male friend. Marriage makes eunchs of us all, and no one says that better than GK

Garrison Keillor explores dilemnas of the modern male

What's a guy to do? These days he's expected to be as sensitive as a hothouse flower and as tough as his prairie-taming grandpa, all at once. Garrison Keillor examines this disheartening paradox as he takes us on a literary joyride in which we meet Buddy the Leper, discuss home decorating tips with a cowboy named Lonesome Shorty, and explore the midlife crisis of Dionysus. Newly domesticated males will recognize themselves and join Keillor as he recalls the days when men's magazines didn't contain personality quizzes.