|
|
Executive Times |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
2008 Book Reviews |
|||
|
|
Liberty
by Garrison Keillor |
|||
|
Rating: |
*** |
|||
|
|
(Recommended) |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Click
on title or picture to buy from amazon.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
Constraints Garrison
Keillor’s latest Lake Wobegon novel, Liberty,
has fewer laughs than earlier ones, but continues to capture the challenges
and fun of small town living. Protagonist Clint Bunson faces midlife
challenges roughly. He’s getting older, his marriage has new challenges, and he’s
getting bounced off as leader of his favorite town activity: the Fourth of
July committee. He’s also found out that he may not be the American he
thought he was: a lab reported that he may be more than half Hispanic. Instead
of more liberty as he ages, Clint feels more constrained. Here’s an excerpt, from
the end of Chapter 3, “Ingratitude,” pp. 25-27: "Let's
not start cutting corners on standards a few months before the parade,"
said Clint. "You just create confusion. If you want to go back to how it
used to be when anybody was in the parade who wanted to be, you can do that
next year." "I
liked that old parade," said Mr. Hoppe. "Remember? We used to go
around twice, so people who watched it the first time around could be in it
the second time. And vice-versa. It was very sociable." Ingrid
said she thought that sounded wonderful. "Take
it from me, it wasn't," said Clint. "It was a lot of people milling
around in the street and people on the sidewalk watching them do it." "A
lot of people have told me how much they miss the old parade," said
Diener. "Fine.
You want that, I'll resign effective July 5, you can do what you want."
And he stood up and walked down the hall to the men's room. The next week Viola's minutes read: BUNSEN announced that, effective July 5, he
will resign as Chair. TORS moved to accept his resignation and to express the
Committee's appreciation for his service. Approved unanimously. What?
Resigned? Not on your life. Okay, he had occasionally complained to the Old
Regulars about the aggravations, but he had never considered resigning. Daddy
had been Chairman of the Fourth of July back in 1965 when the tornado struck.
His quick action getting people indoors under cover in the minute after the first bowling ball
struck, before the other thirty-five rained down, was credited with saving
lives. Daddy was, in fact, the Delivery Man of Delivery Day. He loved the
Fourth and Clint loved his dad. The thought of giving up the Fourth was
painful. But here Viola Tors had apparently ousted him in the minutes,
printed in the Herald Star. He said nothing. He thought of
calling her and telling her off but decided to be cool. Ignore it. At the
next meeting she was sitting in his place. "Are you sitting there,
Viola?" he asked. "Did you want to sit
here?" she said, accusingly. "I don't care where I sit.
It isn't important." "Then why make an issue of
it?" So he sat down in her old
place. She called the meeting to order. When she called for old business, he
said, "I see by the minutes of the last meeting that I turned in my
resignation. Which comes as a surprise to me. But if that's what all of you
want, fine. It's been a wonderful experience working with all of you and
maybe it's time I turned it over to someone else. I don't want to but if
that's what you want, okay by me." He expected Mr. Hoppe or Father
Wilmer to rise to his defense, but no. A great cloud of silence filled the
room. Quiet breathing. A foot tapping. "I clearly understood that
you resigned," said Viola. "You said so and you got up and left the
room." "I went to the
restroom." "Well, whatever. We all
understood that you were resigning." "If that's what you want, just
say so." "Well, it's hard to undo
what's been done," said Viola. "Personally
my only interest is the Fourth of July. I want to see it done right. That's
the bottom line." She went on to enumerate his sins without referring to
him personally or looking him in the eye- the wounded Knutes, the weeping
Sextette, the people who loved Cowpie Bingo, the dog owners, etc., etc.- and
her frizzy hair shook and her skinny fist popped the table. Viola had thrown
tantrums as a child and now she was in the grip of another
one. “So
you want me to resign?" he said. “That's
how we voted," she said. "It was unanimous." Nobody
said a word. An awkward few seconds. Father Wilmer looked thoughtfully up at
the ceiling and Mr. Hoppe stared at the table and Mr. Diener scratched his
nose as if about to poke into a nostril and do some excavating. Clint thought
maybe he should reminisce about his dad and the old days, make everyone smile,
spread oil on troubled waters. What he wanted to say was, After a few months of
Viola, you
are going to miss me a lot. But you won’t get me back because I am seriously
thinking about running for Congress, unbelievable as that may seem to you. I
am about 65 percent decided. I may announce on the Fourth. I plan to win the
election and when I do, I am out of here and you are going to wish
you hadn't done this. And then Viola cleared her throat
and said, "Any other old business?" and
that was that. The moment was over. Six years as chairman. Done. He was
deposed because he had to pee. Evidently they were as sick of him as he was
of them. He hoped there would not be a recognition ceremony after the parade
and the presentation of some big chunk of Lucite for meritorious service. He
guessed not. Those
who live in small towns will recognize many of the character types that
Keillor presents in Liberty.
The rest of us will know these individual from other group settings. In
presenting the comedy of life in this way, Keillor leads us to laugh at
ourselves and at the constraints that we create for ourselves. Steve
Hopkins, November 20, 2008 |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
Go to Executive Times Archives |
||||
|
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
The recommendation rating for
this book appeared in the December 2008 issue of Executive Times URL for this review: http://www.hopkinsandcompany.com/Books/Liberty.htm For Reprint Permission,
Contact: Hopkins & Company, LLC • E-mail: books@hopkinsandcompany.com |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
