Synopses & Reviews
When Larry Wyler heads east from Minnesota to New York in pursuit of the celebrated life of the writers he admires and the three-martini lunch, he leaves behind Iris, the college sweetheart he married. When he abandons the rural flats of St. Paul for the fabled high-rise housing William Shawn and his famous magazine, Wyler stumbles into meteoric success as a writer and a womanizer. However, he's soon brought low by an even quicker series of failures on both fronts. Iris catches Wyler in flagrante, living the New York high life, and when
The New Yorker gives him the boot the jig is up. A chastened man, Wyler returns to Minnesota, where the only writing job he can get is as an advice columnist for the lovelorn. Writing under the pen name "Mr. Blue," Wyler doles out wry, knowing, and practical advice about seduction and mating to the heartbroken and the lonely. And only slowly, painfully, does Wyler figure out for himself how, after losing love, you can eventually get it back.
From one of America's most beloved writers comes a hilarious and heartfelt novel about ambition, success, and failure as well as the virtues of real love and a steady writing job.
Review
"With his trademark droll humor, Keillor exposes the foibles of human nature and pokes fun at our more absurd conventions....[A] wry send-up of literary life." Publishers Weekly
Review
"Love Me succeeds as light-footed fun, or as social comedy of the order that poor Larry Wyler couldn't write. Either way, any novel in which J. D. Salinger appears on Hollywood Squares gets my vote." Carl Hiaasen, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"In its revelation of what it means to be a human being in our gloriously absurd day and age, Love Me is Garrison Keillor's funniest and most ambitious novel to date." Howard Frank Mosher, The Washington Post Book World
Review
"[A] droll literary spoof wrapped in a sweet love story....At first, it seems like disjointed bits and pieces, but Keillor hits his stride when Wyler hits New York." Bob Minzesheimer, USA Today
Review
"It must be said that while Keillor is terrifically funny and pretty darn smart about many of life's mysteries, he isn't much of a novelist. The plot meanders episodically..." Karen Karbo, New York Newdsay
Review
"Perhaps it's the light, breezy style, playful prose or ambling plot that make [Keillor's] newest novel, Love Me, the ideal end-of-summer choice....His trademark wit, humor and irreverence abound..." Leslie Weddell, Denver Post
Synopsis
n this charming departure from Lake Wobegon, bestselling author Garrison Keillor tells a hilarious and heartwarming tale of ambition, success and failure, and the virtues of real love. Aspiring writer Larry Wyler leads a quiet, decent life with his do-gooder wife, Iris, in St. Paul, Minnesota, but he wants more. When his literary debut becomes a hit, he departs for a Manhattan apartment, a job at the
New Yorker, and three- martini lunches with the great editor, William Shawn.
But when his second novel bombs and he finds himself in the grip of writer?s block, Wyler discovers that success?and the New York publishing scene?is a fickle mistress, indeed. Creatively barren, nearly destitute, and longing for Iris, he accepts a job writing ?Ask Mr. Blue,? a column doling out advice to the lovelorn. It may not be glamorous work, but through it Wyler discovers what?s really important and sets out to win back the woman he left behind.
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.