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Read Love Me (2004)

Love Me (2004)

Online Book

Rating
3.25 of 5 Votes: 5
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ISBN
0142004995 (ISBN13: 9780142004999)
Language
English
Publisher
penguin books

Love Me (2004) - Plot & Excerpts

Garrison Keillor may have fans in many mediums, but if Love Me is the standard, his writing isn’t one of them for me. Get the chainsaw ready. Given it’s a Garrison Keillor read, the protagonist, Larry Wyler, is a middle-aged, white liberal with literary leanings in somewhat small town Midwest America. His wife, Iris, cares a lot for people, so, of course, Larry will leave her (though not divorce her) to pursue writer dreams in New York City. Along the way, he’ll be a stellar guy who’ll sleep around, have one successful novel, followed by a flop, followed by him taking a gig writing advice columns as Mr. Blue. There are some amusing subplots here, but it highlights something I’ve known for a long time: Humor is not enough for a good read. Keillor is more witty than funny—kind of like a highbrow Nick Hornby. Instead it’s “The New Yorker,” where Wyler hangs out not writing. Yup, it’s as pretentious and boring as it sounds. There are fictional versions of famous writers and editors, plus a romanticization of the marriage between F. Scott Fitzgerald and his wife, Zelda. There’s just one problem: I know what the F in F. Scott Fitzgerald should stand for, as he basically made his wife bat crap crazy because she got favorable reviews on her books, too. (Of course, that part is skipped here.) There is an interesting mafia subplot late in the read, but Keillor makes it nonsensical and inconsequential so that he can get back to his boring failed writer/jerk married guy shtick. It’s the one plotline in the book that isn’t predictable and Keillor makes it stupid. Thanks, guy. Outside of that, everything in Love Me is irritatingly predictable. Larry is all about being a tool; Iris is a good woman. You can figure out what will happen. As far as I’m concerned, Keillor can shove his casual misogyny in his monologuing pie hole. Take your 10 Lake Wobegon books with you; I don’t need any more of this lousy formula. One star.

i liked reading this little book. i've never read anything by Keillor before and loved loved loved his writing style and sense of humour. this book tells the story of Larrry, a writer from Minnesota who dreams of a bigger, better and faster life. he is constantly brought back to planet earth by his selfless wife Iris, whose work is helping crazy homeless people, and has no interest in unnecessary excesses in life. i don't know how much of this autobiographical, but i couldn't help visualizing Keillor's face when i thought of the main character, Larry, who is a middle-aged writer from Minnesota. i would have enjoyed this book more if i didn't know what Keillor looked like, or that he was old (well, to be fair... older than me) and this is because of his plentiful sexual escapades which he feels have to be described in detail. i wanted to barf when reading something about someone holding his cock. ick. i mean, ICK!

What do You think about Love Me (2004)?

A small-town writer flukes a massive success and departs in triumph for New York City, leaving his long-suffering wife behind. Eventually he has to return home, tail between legs. While the protagonist is a bit of an idiot, he's still quite likeable. He ends up becoming the Agony Uncle Mr Blue which gives Garrison Keillor lots of opportunities to poke fun at certain prominent individuals, as does day-to-day life at the New Yorker magazine. I hadn't realised it was run by the mafia ;-) This is charming, and funny (in particular the Agony Uncle letters and their responses), and warmly recommended.
—Derek Baldwin

I was once again amazed at how many "sub-stories" was included in the book, the immaculate detail in each of them, and how it all fused in the end. "The character, Larry Whyler, in the book “Love Me” says this about his wife: “I woke every morning in a prayerful state and Iris went off to help people in pee-stained pants who were pushing their shopping carts around, combing the Dumpsters for collectibles. She was their champion. She was bull dog on the phone. She was good at harassment. She stood up to the big cheeses in the blue suits. She fought for the underdog. After someone had been in a fight with Iris, he wasn’t anxious to go again… She took up the recorder and played in the Macalester Groveland Early Music Consort. She read Doris Lessing. We subscribed to the Whole Earth and attended Pete Seeger concerts and joined Common Cause and believed in people of all races and religions working together to make a decent world. We believed that, deep down, people really are good. Or she did. And I believed her.” Then he becomes successful, moves to New York and his life takes a totally different direction, losing himself in fame, failure and then a renaissance of himself, his marriage and the goodness of what he left behind. His writing of the agony column as Mr.Blue, keeps him (unknowingly) afloat - a job his wife got him before he decided to enjoy his success which she never understood, or so he thought. Garrison Keillor himself is always present in the book though. He is not afraid to discuss his own failures and Achilles hill. It is an enjoyable read if you appreciate Garrison Keiller's writing style. It's not the middle-of-the-road blockbuster bestseller rhetoric and he is not afraid to remain true to himself as well as the real people of America. There's nothing bogus about himself or his characters.
—Margitte

In my opinion, Keillor is always a sure bet for some good slapstick humor and I do enjoy a heartfelt belly-laugh when I read his books. This one was no exception. Here, the protagonist publishes a best-selling novel and moves from his small Minnesota home to NYC where he joins other literary greats at The New Yoker magazine. Just as he starts to enjoy his newfound fame and fortune, he sinks deeply into despair because he develops writer's block and cannot write even an article for the magazine much less his second novel for which he already received a hefty advance. So he is offered a job from his old hometown newspaper to write the advice column anonymously. As "Mr. Blue", he tells the lovelorn when to stay and when to leave their controversial counterparts. The advice column runs throughout the novel as a backdrop for his mid-life crisis, which is the real story here. I suspect it was a bit autobiographical, which made the self-deprecatory humor all the more fun. My only qualm with the book was the epilogue. I can't really decide what function it served and whether it enhanced or detracted from the story.
—Judith

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