In Search of Lake Wobegon
In Search of Lake Wobegon
In a salute to America’s heartland and the renaissance of appreciation for traditional community values, AmericanLandscapeGallery is offering a limited number of “In Search of Lake Wobegon”, a book deeply rooted in stories from one of the most famous fictional small towns in America, where the “women are strong and the men good-looking and the children all above average.” The original printing has sold out and only a small number of new unsold ALG copies remain.
Created by author Garrison Keillor and National Geographic magazine photographer/editor Richard Olsenius, this coffee table book embodies the quintessential character of rural midwestern life blending warmth, humor, and a touch of nostalgia for small towns everywhere. The news from Lake Wobegon was the highlight of Keillor’s weekly radio program, “A Prairie Home Companion,” which ran on National Public Radio for 42 years.
Product details
Hardcover: 127 pages, 90 photographs
All copies new
Signed by Richard Olsenius
Price will change as remaining copies are sold
Publisher: Viking Studio/ Penguin Putnam (August 27, 2001)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0670030376
ISBN-13: 978-0670030378
Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 0.8 x 10.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 2.3 pounds
Average Customer Review Amazon: 4.8 out of 5 stars 18 customer reviews
In the 53 years since Garrison Keillor first brought it to life, the town of Lake Wobegon has become a national treasure. Every Saturday night, when that unmistakable voice says 'It has been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon,'’ millions of fans of 'A Prairie Home Companion' find themselves in the most famous small midwestern town (population 942) in America.
In 1999, Garrison Keillor and Richard Olsenius joined forces on a project for National Geographic Magazine that revolved around Keillor's search for the real Lake Wobegon. According to its creator, it's in central Minnesota. Here Olsenius returned to his roots with his 4 x 5 camera and black-and-white film to capture the people and the places that have long been Keillor's inspiration.
This beautiful book combines text and image to reveal the real-life origins of the place where 'the women are strong, the men are good-looking and the children above average.' Keillor meditates on the enduring culture of the county and on the years he spent there as a young writer and an outsider. And a short story of Lake Wobegon, 'October,' appears here for the first time in print.
Lavishly produced, with more than eighty photographs reproduced in duotone with an essay and extended captions by Keillor, In Search of Lake Wobegon documents the vitality of contemporary small-town life and illuminates the real Minnesota landscapes and citizens who inspired Keillor's beloved and lasting creation.
Reviews: In Search of Lake Wobegon / Keillor & Olsenius
“Featuring the austerely affectionate black-and-white photographs of Richard Olsenius with accompanying text by Keillor, this elegant photo album showcases the real Minnesota towns, farmland and prairies that helped inspire Keillor's imaginary town.” New York Times Book Review.
“Images etched into our Collective Consciousness that define America, while transcending cliches, are not easy to come by. Although many photographers pursue that momentous place, few find it. Richard Olsenius captures that location, arriving at a place called Lake Wobegon.”
Lily Faust, New York Art World Magazine