Synopses & Reviews
A fresh and funny Lake Wobegon novel about a woman with a secret life
In Lake Wobegon lives a good Lutheran lady who is quite prepared to die and wishes to be cremated and her ashes placed inside a bowling ball and dropped into the lake, no prayers, no hymns, thank you very much. Meanwhile, the Detmer girl returns from California where she has made a killing in veterinary aromatherapy to marry her boyfriend Brent aboard Wally's pontoon boat, presided over by her minister, Misty Naylor of the Sisterhood of the Sacred Spirit. Brent arrives on Thursday. On Saturday, a delegation of renegade Lutheran pastors from Denmark come to town on their tour of America, their punishment for having denied the divinity of Jesus. And Barbara Peterson, whose mother, Evelyn, left the startling note about cremation and the bowling ball, is in love with a lovely fat man who slips around town in the dim light and reconnoiters with her at the Romeo Motel.
An the then there is Raoul of the cigars and tinted shades and rainbow sportscoat and his long phone message (Hey, Precious) after the angel of death has already come and gone.
All is in readiness for the wedding — the giant shrimp shish kebabs, the French champagne, the wheels of imported cheese, the pate with whole peppercorns, the hot-air balloon, the flying Elvis, the pontoon boat, and the giant duck decoys — and then something else happens.
It is Lake Wobegon as you've imagined it — good loving people who drive each other slightly crazy.
Review
Keillor has always been a great cataloger, equal parts Homer and Montgomery Ward, and rarely to better effect than in
Pontoon.
Thomas Mallon, The New York Times Book Review
Unaffectedly good-natured [and] entirely accessible.
The Washington Post Book World
Full of Keillors hilarious invention.
Los Angeles Times
Synopsis
Garrison Keillor makes his long-awaited return to Lake Wobegon with this
New York Times bestseller.
The first new Lake Wobegon novel in seven years is a cause for celebration. And Pontoon is nothing less than a spectacular return to form — replete with a bowling ball-urn, a hot-air balloon, giant duck decoys, a flying Elvis, and, most importantly, Wally's pontoon boat. As the wedding of the decade approaches (accompanied by wheels of imported cheese and giant shrimp shish kebabs), the good-loving people of Lake Wobegon do what they do best: drive each other slightly crazy.
About the Author
Garrison Keillor, author of nearly a dozen books, is founder and host of the acclaimed radio show A Prairie Home Companion and the daily program The Writer's Almanac. He is also a regular contributor to Time magazine.