A short comic novel about a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who ends up stranded in his North Dakota hometown during a blizzard. A wealthy and depres...
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Jan 07, 2012
Judy
rated it: 
This starts off wonderfully, but I think it comes slightly unstuck with some supernatural content, which isn't Keillor's natural territory. However, his humour and vivid depiction of smalltown life still make it well worth reading.
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Jan 05, 2012
Catherine
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This was a Christmas gift -- and it's true, at first I groaned a little, because receiving a Christmas-themed book seemed a little predictable.
But this book is really witty. It's packed with wit, in my opinion, and is creative and frequently original. The writing is nice, and in general it's just a great story. I wish it had a different title, like Persimmon Portentitudes, or whatever, so that I could more easily convince friends to read it.
At any rate, The Washington More...
But this book is really witty. It's packed with wit, in my opinion, and is creative and frequently original. The writing is nice, and in general it's just a great story. I wish it had a different title, like Persimmon Portentitudes, or whatever, so that I could more easily convince friends to read it.
At any rate, The Washington More...
Jun 11, 2011
Matthew
rated it:
Keillor is a master of understated and often dark humor. One of the most memorable parts is when the protagonist, James Sparrow, describes his therapist who, while not overtly stated, is OCD about curing OCD. Funny!
Overall, the story, as many have stated here, is about millionaire James Sparrow, who strongly dislikes Christmas because of his fear and compulsion to put his tongue on a frozen pump handle. While absolutely silly in premise, Keillor is still able to weave a fantastic (in More...
Overall, the story, as many have stated here, is about millionaire James Sparrow, who strongly dislikes Christmas because of his fear and compulsion to put his tongue on a frozen pump handle. While absolutely silly in premise, Keillor is still able to weave a fantastic (in More...
Jul 10, 2010
Julie
rated it:
Garrison Keillor is brilliant. He and Alexander McCall Smith are like modern day Mark Twains. I listened to this in the car and was pleased that it was read by Keillor with the weary mournful cadences of his Lake Wobegon monologues. The beginning of the story sets up as a contemporary spin on Dickens Christmas Carol. James Sparrow is a middle aged millionaire trying desperately to get to Hawaii for Christmas. He is addled with a phobia about sticking his tongue on metal in the winter and this di
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Nov 24, 2009
Gail
rated it: 
The zillions of fans who enjoy Garrison Keillor's trademark warm , folksy humor may be a mite surprised and delighted I might add to discover that he can also be caustic - entertainingly so. Of course, a great deal of the pleasure in this tale is in the reading by Keillor - there's that unforgettable voice, familiar, spellbinding as he relates A CHRISTMAS BLIZZARD.
It is, of course, the holiday season, a least favorite time of year for energy drink company mogul James Spa More...
Nov 09, 2009
Carol
rated it:
A funny book that employs long series of descriptors to exaggerate a point. A very wealthy man in his late forties and married to a woman he loves totally is unhappy. He knows that it is his childhood in winter
frozen North Dakota that has him in its maws. He has visited multiple therapists to no avail. His main way of coping with his fears is to exit Chicago at Christmas for a second home in Hawaii. The problem is that his wife loves Christmas and loves to visit the Nutcracker and theatres More...
frozen North Dakota that has him in its maws. He has visited multiple therapists to no avail. His main way of coping with his fears is to exit Chicago at Christmas for a second home in Hawaii. The problem is that his wife loves Christmas and loves to visit the Nutcracker and theatres More...
Dec 16, 2011
Rachel
rated it: 
Chicago millionaire James Sparrow wants to spend Christmas in Hawaii in order to escape from his lifelong fear that he will put his tongue on an iron pump handle and it will freeze there.
So. Anyway.
On his way to Hawaii, he stops in North Dakota to visit a dying uncle and ends up stranded when a blizzard moves in. He decides to stay in an ice-fishing cabin on a frozen lake, where he's visited by various people both real and imaginary, including a wolf who's the reincarnati More...
So. Anyway.
On his way to Hawaii, he stops in North Dakota to visit a dying uncle and ends up stranded when a blizzard moves in. He decides to stay in an ice-fishing cabin on a frozen lake, where he's visited by various people both real and imaginary, including a wolf who's the reincarnati More...
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Jun 13, 2011
Greg
rated it:
Not much to say about this one...just a little weird. I had heard good things about Garrison Keilor's writing, and I tend to like Christmas stories, so I thought I'd try this one out. I don't think I'll read anything else by Keilor. It wasn't bad, just not in a style I like. There was one thoughtful passage, though.
"You are the benefactor of great kindness. And you have no idea how much goodness is lavished on the world by invisible hands. Small, selfless deeds engender tremendo More...
"You are the benefactor of great kindness. And you have no idea how much goodness is lavished on the world by invisible hands. Small, selfless deeds engender tremendo More...
Nov 26, 2009
Denise
rated it:
James Sparrow, millionaire owner of an energy drink company, hates Christmas. Though he can't bring himself to admit it to anyone, his fear of getting his tongue stuck to frozen metal haunts him throughout the cold Chicago winter. Seeking to escape he jumps in his private jet and takes off for Hawaii. When he gets stranded in a blizzard during an impromptu stop in his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota he will have to face his fears. With the assistance of a variety of strange and wondrous help
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Nov 27, 2009
Connie
rated it:
Garrison Keillor is so distinctively silly and mature and dark and optimistic that I just want to sit down with him and ask him all sorts of inappropriate questions that are none of my business. It is because of this curiosity that I enjoy reading his books so much.
Listening to him on NPR is great fun and I definitely enjoyed his performance and craftsmanship in the film A Prairie Home Companion, but it's through his writing that I feel most rejuvenated.
Through the air More...
Listening to him on NPR is great fun and I definitely enjoyed his performance and craftsmanship in the film A Prairie Home Companion, but it's through his writing that I feel most rejuvenated.
Through the air More...
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Nov 20, 2009
Barbara
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I really enjoy the strange humor of Garrison Keillor. He takes a concept to its silliest possible depths in order to bring about his humorous stories. All of us heard as kids the story of putting your tongue on cold metal and having it stick during the frigid winter days, but only Garrison Keillor could have a main character with Pump Handle Syndrome. James is inexplicably drawn to anything metal during cold winter days, obsessively certain he will place his tongue upon it and the recommended
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Jan 05, 2011
Rebecca
rated it: 
Maybe it's because I've never read Keillor's work. Maybe it's because I haven't exactly had a good Christmas season this year. Maybe it's because I just wasn't in the mood. Or maybe, just maybe, this book was just a wee bit boring. And confusing. And weird in a way I just couldn't get down with.
Was it real? Was it a hallucination? Was it just a waste of time?
I just could not get through this book.
Let me explain it this way: the book is short - 100 or so pages - and i More...
Was it real? Was it a hallucination? Was it just a waste of time?
I just could not get through this book.
Let me explain it this way: the book is short - 100 or so pages - and i More...
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Jan 25, 2010
Marti
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This was a fun Christmas read. If you're a fan of Garrison Keillor already, then you'll "get" his rambling storyteller method of writing. But I have come to realize that I enjoy Mr. Keillor more as a storyteller than as a writer. While I'm entertained by the wandering off on tangents in an oral tale, the technique occasionally irritated me as a reader.
As ever there are his folksy mid-western observations.
. . . about family: "Daddy believed that if you couldn't se More...
As ever there are his folksy mid-western observations.
. . . about family: "Daddy believed that if you couldn't se More...
Nov 29, 2011
Heather
rated it:
A strange and wonderful Yuletide acid trip of some sort.
As a longtime fan of Keillor, I find myself strangely drawn to this story despite how different it is from his usual fare. Probably not a good choice for folks that are not familiar with Keillor's sometimes whacky style nor for those looking for another Lake Wobegon tale.
The book stands alone as an odd little adventure into the more creative depths of Garrison Keillor's imaginative brain, while not disappointing with hi More...
As a longtime fan of Keillor, I find myself strangely drawn to this story despite how different it is from his usual fare. Probably not a good choice for folks that are not familiar with Keillor's sometimes whacky style nor for those looking for another Lake Wobegon tale.
The book stands alone as an odd little adventure into the more creative depths of Garrison Keillor's imaginative brain, while not disappointing with hi More...
Nov 18, 2009
Judy
rated it:
A cross between Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" and Grishom's "Skipping Christmas" with a little extra twist in the end.
Not the best Keillor but still good. One quote I want to keep - I have gotten lazy about wrapping packages but this pricked my conscience.
"What's important is not the cash value of the gift but the loving intention of the giver - and you show this by how the gift - even the $1.69 bottle of Swank cologne - is wrapped. The recipient hold this w More...
Not the best Keillor but still good. One quote I want to keep - I have gotten lazy about wrapping packages but this pricked my conscience.
"What's important is not the cash value of the gift but the loving intention of the giver - and you show this by how the gift - even the $1.69 bottle of Swank cologne - is wrapped. The recipient hold this w More...
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Jan 06, 2012
Pam
rated it:
I recently attended one of the most interesting book club meetings ever. To be sure, the opinions are usually quite mixed but generally friendly. Last night’s discussion, however, was completely different.
I was about the only person in the group who enjoyed the book. I thought it a fun, light, silly poke at Christmas movies and mankind.
I was in the minority (not a new feeling, for sure). As the discussions heated up we noticed a few disturbing points and it seemed as More...
I was about the only person in the group who enjoyed the book. I thought it a fun, light, silly poke at Christmas movies and mankind.
I was in the minority (not a new feeling, for sure). As the discussions heated up we noticed a few disturbing points and it seemed as More...
Dec 15, 2009
Susanhayeshotmail.com
rated it:
I am quite fond of Garrison Keilor's folksy mid-western humor; got addicted listening to NPR while up late at night with my babies 20 years or so ago. For years I kept a well thumbed copy of Lake Wobegone days under my bed, to pull out for a quick chuckle on bad days. So, I guess I'm saying, consider the source, but I found this a charming, albeit quirky and perhaps even goofy, nod to Dickens. En route to Hawaii, leaving his ill wife behind in his desperate flight to escape Christmas, Chicago
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Jul 15, 2010
Karen
rated it:
The book overall didn't knock my socks off, but it was an interesting, fun read and had great dialogue that made me laugh out loud several times throughout the book. There are also some surprisingly deep comments made among the banter, and I liked that because I like anything that makes me go, "huh, I hadn't thought of it that way." I feel it's the type of book that I'm going to have to let marinate in my mind for a while, and when I come back in a few weeks/months, I can write what
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Dec 06, 2010
Gary
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I'm a Garrison Keillor fan but this take-off of A Christmas Carol didn't do it for me. I almost gave it two stars, but it was laugh-out-loud funny in some places.
The main character is completely unappealing but while Ebenezer Scrooge gradually comes to grips with his miserable self, this guy never really does, and his hallucinations are just kind of goofy and not really the kind of thing that would turn anybody around.
I'm still a fan, but Mr. Keillor missed with this o More...
The main character is completely unappealing but while Ebenezer Scrooge gradually comes to grips with his miserable self, this guy never really does, and his hallucinations are just kind of goofy and not really the kind of thing that would turn anybody around.
I'm still a fan, but Mr. Keillor missed with this o More...
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Dec 15, 2009
Garrison Keillor just might be the most verbose man on the planet. Filibuster, indeed.
Talk, talk, sing, talk. His stories run together (good thing they are mostly humorous) and he mumbles (endearingly) so that you only catch every third word.
The crowd was polite, quiet. A real library type. While post-it-ing the line I learned about the history of the post-it, of a recent death, and how to spell Minnesotan. NOT "ian", who knew?
Long but relativ More...
Talk, talk, sing, talk. His stories run together (good thing they are mostly humorous) and he mumbles (endearingly) so that you only catch every third word.
The crowd was polite, quiet. A real library type. While post-it-ing the line I learned about the history of the post-it, of a recent death, and how to spell Minnesotan. NOT "ian", who knew?
Long but relativ More...
Dec 07, 2009
RE: _A Christmas Blizzard_ by Garrison Keillor
Garrison Keillor is priceless!
I have the audio CD of his book, _Pontoon A Lake Wobegon Novel_, read by Keillor himself. It is so-o-o funny, especially the way Keillor reads it. I wonder if this book will come out in an audio version read by Keillor himself. I think that's the best way to enjoy his material. He is so droll! Not only that, he's a great observer of human nature. More...
Garrison Keillor is priceless!
I have the audio CD of his book, _Pontoon A Lake Wobegon Novel_, read by Keillor himself. It is so-o-o funny, especially the way Keillor reads it. I wonder if this book will come out in an audio version read by Keillor himself. I think that's the best way to enjoy his material. He is so droll! Not only that, he's a great observer of human nature. More...
Dec 19, 2011
Sandi
rated it:
If you combined a filthy rich George Bailey with a married Ebenezer Scrooge, mixed in the bizarre spirits from The Shack, then removed all the charm and warmth you would end up with this novel. The main character's obsessive fear of sticking his tongue on a iron pump handle is the most plausible concept of the book. I'm okay with suspending reality for a novel, but this one asks readers to suspend their brains. I kept expecting this entire book to be a dream sequence. The best part of this book
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Nov 16, 2010
Georgesear
rated it:
Funny book in that dry, Midwestern type of humor for which Garrison Keillor is known. A rich man is stuck in a blizzard in his dreaded old hometown in Looseleaf, North Dakota. While there, he visits family and old friends, meditates about his life and then suddenly, enters into a fantasy world where, like Scrooge, he is given a chance at redemption. For James Sparrow, redemption comes in the form of overcoming a uniquely midwestern fear of pump-handles, thus allowing him to enjoy Christmas fo
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Dec 08, 2011
Misti
rated it:
The book was O.K. I struggled through it in a day and a half.
I might read it again someday to see if there is more to it than I gave it credit for. Some of the themes were just strange like the wolf, and I felt like maybe I was missing the point.
It had a Christmas Carol feel but fell very flat of Dickens. It did make me chuckle at times in its weird facts just randomly placed within the story.
Not a big fan of this one. But it did make me want to read The Chr More...
I might read it again someday to see if there is more to it than I gave it credit for. Some of the themes were just strange like the wolf, and I felt like maybe I was missing the point.
It had a Christmas Carol feel but fell very flat of Dickens. It did make me chuckle at times in its weird facts just randomly placed within the story.
Not a big fan of this one. But it did make me want to read The Chr More...
Dec 02, 2011
Katarina
rated it:
This book was a wacky ride. I loved it! It took me a bit (like, a whole page) to get into Keillor's writing style, but I ended up LOVING it. He gently, lovingly mocks everyone and everything, right down to languages and personality types. A Christmas Blizzard does include the warm fuzzy feelings, the Christmas revelation I personally crave (it's the time of year to be guiltlessly sappy), but is so much more. The ending was a bit of a curveball for me, but, strangely enough, it worked!
Feb 20, 2010
Patti
rated it:
I am still trying to decided whether or not I really liked this book. I agree with another reviewer that this story would be better being told verbally, so that the places where there are detours and digressions would be better suited. For me, they were a bit confusing, and I would have to turn back pages to see if I had missed something.
The message overall, was very much like "A Christmas Carol" told through a series of quirky, Keillor-esque characters.
The message overall, was very much like "A Christmas Carol" told through a series of quirky, Keillor-esque characters.
Nov 15, 2010
Regina
rated it:
A decidedly different book about Christmas! Laugh-out-loud humor follows James Sparrow, a millionaire (previous life: bank robber)who doesn't like Christmas or winter and who has "pump handle syndrome" - the fear of sticking your tongue on a frozen pump handle or any metal object and never being able to pull it off w/o ripping your tongue! When James has to fly back to his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota, he must face his fears and his family.
Dec 11, 2011
Reid
rated it:
Intelligent, witty fluff. Great fun, but Keillor never really settles down into storytelling mode, preferring to skip about from one amusing image to another. Many of his plot lines (watch for the FBI agent) seem both contrived and incomplete, mere sketches of ideas he quickly abandons to chase some other chimera. Still, a quick and easy read and several of the situations and much of the droll dialog or description are laugh-out-loud funny.
Aug 03, 2011
Terry
rated it:
I wanted to like this more than I did. I hadn't read a Keillor book in years, so had high expectations. There are parts that are just breath-taking, even poignant. And then there are those parts that were better left unread. I used to find the brilliance of Keillor was his understated dry wit. His recent writings have had more Jr. High School boy humor and sex snickers than necessary.
Jan 06, 2012
Ruth
rated it:
I could hear Keillor's voice as I read this humorous Christmas story of the wealthy man who wanted to spend the Holidays in Hawaii but ends up staying in the iceshack in his old hometown in the frigid cold. I've heard some of the anectodes before in his radio shows, slightly adapted. A fun read for Keillor fans. It was a birthday present and I did enjoy reading as the Holidays began.
