Non-Fiction Books
In these reflections on our lives and times, Keillor invites readers to join "The Shy Rights Movement", to drop in at "The People's Shopper", and to hear the truth behind the Cinderella legend as explained in the consciousness-raised lingo of "My Stepmother Myself".
This tenth anniversary show recorded July 6-7, 1984 is considered a must-have by long time fans of "A Prairie Home Companion." Guests include Greg Brown; the Butch Thompson Trio; the Dale Warland Singers; Lieberman, Fogel and Bey; Sue Shepard; Stoney Lonesome; and Vern Sutton."
Originally broadcast on Christmas Eve 1994, A Prairie Home Christmas is a delightful compilation of all-time-favorite highlights from past holiday broadcasts of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion.Contents:Christmas Time's a Comin'; Jordan Carols; Shop for Christmas Presents; Scrooge; Children, Go Where I Send Thee; The Twelve Days of Christmas; Christmas Gifts for the Staff; If It Doesn't Snow on Christmas; Settin' by the Fire; Nothing But a Child; Christ Child's Lullaby; Nowell: Owt of Your Sleep; Bach's Christmas Oratorio; A Polish Christmas with Walter Bobbie; Det Kimmer Nu; Oh How Lovely Is the Evening; Silent Night; Nine Lessons and Carols; Carol of the Children; Mr. Bergy's Christmas; Solstice Medley; The Christmas Pageant; There Are Angels Hovering Round; O Little Town of Bethlehem.
On July 6, 1974, in a small concert hall at Macalester College, A Prairie Home Companion debuted as a live radio show in front of an auspicious audience of about twelve people. It "was about as awful as a show could possibly be, and we have the tapes to prove it," recalls host Garrison Keillor. Thankfully, the show improved considerably over the years and today over two-and-a-half million listeners tune in each week to hear that friendly, familiar mix of music, humor, and storytelling. The dictionary defines a "commonplace book" as a notebook in which one records quotations, poems, extracts, and memorabilia. In A Prairie Home Companion 's 25th year, Keillor and friends compiled a commonplace book of amusing facts, recollections, scripts, behind-the-scenes photos, recipes, commercialsa whole alphabet of fun from "Autoharp" to "Zenith." Heavily illustrated with over 100 photos, plus new, previously unpublished material by Garrison Keillor, it all adds up to a complete picture of a much-loved part of popular culture and one of America's favorite radio programs.
Orginally broadcast on Christmas Eve 1994, A Prairie Home Christmas is a delightful compilation of all-time-favorite highlights from past holiday broadcasts of Garrison Keillor's A Prairie Home Companion, including: * Keillor's tender edition of the beloved Danish Christmas song "Det Kimmer Nu" * "The Twelve Days of Christmas," hilariously enhanced by sound-effects marvel Tom Keith * A kaleidoscope of music, from Christmas polkas to toe-tapping bluegrass carols And of course, * A special Christmas rendition of "News from Lake Wobegon" Filled with music, laughter, and the genuine spirit of Christmas, A Prairie Home Christmas will make Lake Wobegon everyone's home for the holidays.
Every Saturday at 5 p.m. Central, in a packed theater, the lights dim, the crowd hushes, and an old-time radio show called A Prairie Home Companion, hosted by Garrison Keillor goes on the air, live, coast to coast. Our songbook features 20 songs written for and performed on the show, based on Richard Dworsky's improvised arrangements at the piano: Bad Jokes * Beeboparebop Rhubarb Pie Theme * Brownie & Pete * Guy Noir Theme * Hush Little Baby * Hymn to Winter * Lake Wobegon School Hymn * Limericks (Waltz Me Around Again Willie) * The Lives of the Cowboys Theme * My Minnesota Home * Nonsense Song (A Boy's Best Friend Is His Mother) * Oh Baby * Polly-Wolly Tunafish * Powdermilk Biscuit Theme * Slow Days of Summer * Song of the Exiles * The Sons of Knute Christmas Dance and Dinner * Tishomingo Blues * Whispering Tuna * Whoop-I-Ti-Yi-Yo.
In this thoughtful, deeply personal work, one of the nation's best-loved voices takes the plunge into politics and comes up with a book that has had all of America talking. Here, with great heart, supple wit, and a dash of anger, Garrison Keillor describes the simple democratic values-the Golden Rule, the obligation to defend the weak against the powerful, and others- that define his hard-working Midwestern neighbors and that today's Republicans seem determined to subvert. A reminiscence, a political tract, and a humorous meditation, Homegrown Democrat is an entertaining, refreshing addition to today's rancorous political debate. * A New York Times bestseller * Updated and revised with a new introduction for the 2006 midterm elections * A Featured Alternate Selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club
Even more of a good thing: the latest collection of knee-slappers, toe-tappers, and groaners from A Prairie Home Companion Joke Shows. Did you hear the one about the paranoid dyslexic? He always thought he was following someone. . . . Why did ancient Romans close down the Coliseum? The lions were eating up the prophets. . . . Jokes are made for sharing, and everyone loves to laugh. This nonstop collection gathers the best jokes from four Joke Shows including the two most recent (3/8/2008 and 11/1/08), all recorded before live audiences at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Performers include show regulars—Garrison Keillor, Sue Scott, Tim Russell, Tom Keith—along with special guests. There’s music from the Guy’s All-Star Show Band, a Guy Noir sketch, a Ketchup sketch, and an unforgettable performance of “The Sound of Chickens,” a song that bears an uncanny resemblance to the Simon & Garfunkel classic “The Sound of Silence.” Except it really is about chickens, and while “The Sound of Silence” is dead serious, this version is just plain silly. (“And in the naked light I saw/Ten thousand chickens maybe more….”) So it’s everything fans want and expect: good jokes, good music, and a pretty darned good time.
Over 2,200 Jokes from America’s favorite live radio show A treasury of hilarity from Garrison Keillor and the cast of public radio’s A Prairie Home Companion . A guy walks into a bar. Eight Canada Geese walk into a bar. A termite jumps up on the bar and asks, “Where is the bar tender?” Drum roll. The Sixth Edition of the perennially popular Pretty Good Joke Book is everything the first five were and more. More puns, one-liners, light bulb jokes, knock-knock jokes, and third-grader jokes (have you heard the one about Elvis Parsley?). More religion jokes, political jokes, lawyer jokes, blonde jokes, and jokes in questionable taste (Why did the urologist lose his license? He got in trouble with his peers). More jokes about chickens, relationships, and senior moments (The nice thing about Alzheimer’s is you can enjoy the same jokes again and again). It all started back in 1996, when A Prairie Home Companion fans laughed themselves silly during the first Joke Show. The broadcast was such a hit that it became an almost-annual gagfest. Then fans wanted to read the jokes, share them, and pass them around, and the first Pretty Good Joke Book was born. With over 200 new and updated jokes, the latest edition promises countless giggles, chortles, and guffaws anyone—fans of the radio show or not—will enjoy.
For some fans of public radio's beloved A Prairie Home Companion, it's all about the wild, unpredictable, "how does he do that?" artistry of sound effects specialist Fred Newman. Hand-picked from nearly two decades of live broadcasts, Sounding Off! spotlights Fred's unique talents in performance with host Garrison Keillor and the hilarious radio acting cast of A Prairie Home Companion. Fred's vocal characterizations are boundless, and his sound arsenal features loons and babies, singing whales and stomping pterodactyls, lovesick elk, patriotic dolphins, rampaging chainsaws, and much more. The collectible CD edition features a full-color booklet with photo-essay and notes by Fred Newman, offering a behind-the-scenes tour his sound effects artistry.
With the warmth and humor we've come to know, the creator and host of A Prairie Home Companion shares his own remarkable story. In That Time of Year , Garrison Keillor looks back on his life and recounts how a Brethren boy with writerly ambitions grew up in a small town on the Mississippi in the 1950s and, seeing three good friends die young, turned to comedy and radio. Through a series of unreasonable lucky breaks, he founded A Prairie Home Companion and put himself in line for a good life, including mistakes, regrets, and a few medical adventures. PHC lasted forty-two years, 1,557 shows, and enjoyed the freedom to do as it pleased for three or four million listeners every Saturday at 5 p.m. Central. He got to sing with Emmylou Harris and Renée Fleming and once sang two songs to the U.S. Supreme Court. He played a private eye and a cowboy, gave the news from his hometown, Lake Wobegon, and met Somali cabdrivers who’d learned English from listening to the show. He wrote bestselling novels, won a Grammy and a National Humanities Medal, and made a movie with Robert Altman with an alarming amount of improvisation. He says, “I was unemployable and managed to invent work for myself that I loved all my life, and on top of that I married well. That’s the secret, work and love. And I chose the right ancestors, impoverished Scots and Yorkshire farmers, good workers. I’m heading for eighty, and I still get up to write before dawn every day.”