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Far-flung tale best at home

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Garrison Keillor wouldn't thank you for saying it, but he's better off back home, in Lake Wobegon.

Keillor is the American writer, humorist, broadcaster - call him what you will - who first made a name for himself spinning yarns live on American radio.

His tales were based on a far-flung little fictional community of Wobegon. The community was settled generations ago by Scandinavian fundamentalists and has all the traits of an inward-looking, isolated town - hypocritical, inbred, small-minded, and, in Keillor's affectionate eyes, wonderfully alive.

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The resulting book, Lake Wobegon Days, a series of soulful sketches forming a complete picture of the place, was also a hoot, and Keillor was on his way; a writer who could not only write, but was now assured of a publisher.

There followed books using a wider canvas, but his pithy, whimsical stamp is less suited to the big cities (apart from The Book of Guys, but that's another story).

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They were still funny but a little too depressing. The Lutheran influences seemed to be winning, until Wobegon Boy.

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