A hilarious coming-of-age novel, Lake Wobegon Summer 1956 serves up theworld according to 14-year-old Gary, an endearing geek, a self-described'tree-toad', and a writer-in-the-making whose best friend is his Underwoodtypewriter. Always with humour, and often with great sympathy, charm andhonesty, the author tells us a story that both satirizes and celebratesthe traumas and the passions of adolescence. In this, his latest novel,Keillor takes us back to a newly-minted America. With its postwar optimismand Cold War suspicions of outsiders, the 1950s are evoked in unforgettableWobegon fashion.