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From: donn@utah-gr.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.wobegon
Subject: Re: 95 Theses 95
Message-ID: <1778@utah-gr.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 2-Aug-86 05:04:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: utah-gr.1778
Posted: Sat Aug  2 05:04:10 1986
Date-Received: Tue, 5-Aug-86 01:17:42 EDT
References: <397@tove.UUCP> <1021@ihwpt.UUCP> <1108@uw-june>
Organization: University of Utah CS Dept
Lines: 25

I think Keillor's attitude toward the place of his upbringing is often
ambiguous.  Don't you remember his monologue about the boy who decided
to join the Navy instead of marrying his girlfriend and staying in Lake
Wobegon to become a farmer like his dad?  Or the anecdote in DAYS about
the trip to Phil's House of Good Food in St. Cloud one Sunday afternoon
when there wasn't enough time between Bible study and the worship time
in the evening to drive back to Lake Wobegon for dinner?  Or the
monologue about the trunk which contained all the last possessions of a
man who had passed away, a man who had ditched his wife and children in
Lake Wobegon and married another woman, settling in the state of
Washington?  To this day the 'trunk' story is probably my all-time
favorite monologue...

While there is clearly some parody in the '95 Theses', I think the
piece is serious in intent; it is portraying the negative side of the
comment which comes at its end: 'Your voice is in my head, talking
constantly from morning till night.'  This voice is what makes
Keillor's stories sound so authentic, what gives them their unique
flavor, their rich homey character, but it is not the voice of
nostalgia.  Keillor knows better.

I musta had too many Powdermilk Biscuits for dinner,

Donn Seeley    University of Utah CS Dept    donn@utah-cs.arpa
40 46' 6"N 111 50' 34"W    (801) 581-5668    decvax!utah-cs!donn