The Book of Guys
stories by Garrison Keillor
Viking/Penguin Books, 1993
I decided to write the review for Garrison Keillor's The Book of Guys while watching a hockey game just to put me in the mood. The Book of Guys is a collection of short stories that squeeze in a lot of stereotypes of guys, and should not be read by those who dislike testosterone-laden characters. I, however, found this to be a highly amusing collection of sometimes bizarre, sometimes touching, sometimes tragically pitiable, but always entertaining protagonists.
One of the funniest stories, "The Chuck Show of Television," follows the tale of Chuck, a talk show host striving to follow the upright path of journalistic integrity amongst the overabundance of other shows featuring topics such as "Parents Who Sit and Watch Kids Stuff Fistfulls of Dirt in Their Mouths" and "Obese People Involved in Secret Satanic Cult Rites." Chuck is forced to become increasingly controversial to boost his show's ratings. With fame and fortune, Chuck becomes all he never wanted to be, all the while spiraling out of control.
One of the most satisfying stories in the collection is "Roy Bradley, Boy Broadcaster," which is the story of a young naïve man whose dreams of being a broadcaster are put on hold as he struggles to find a respectable job and prepare for his marriage to his long-time sweetheart. Nothing goes as planned for the tragically misfortunate Roy as his life speeds past him and his dreams fall one by one into the gutters along the lonesome road he travels on his way to ultimately become just the kind of person he always wanted to be.
Zeus and Dionysus make humorous appearances, as well as Casey at the Bat, as Keillor conjectures other scenarios for these famed mythologies.
Keillor proves you don't have to be a guy to enjoy these "guy" stories. He manages to work in his own special brand of "Prairie Home Companion" sensitivity into the characters in these works, giving them qualities that aren't necessarily masculine or feminine, but remarkably human.
