English Majors: A Comedy Collection for the Highly Literate

by Garrison Keillor Narrated by Garrison Keillor, Tom Keith, Ensemble Cast, Fred Newman, Sue Scott, Tim Russell

Overview

Includes the Six-Minute Hamlet, tributes to Hawthorne and Kerouac and Emily Dickinson, a Guy Noir adventure that exposes an M.F.A. scam, Garrison Keillor's recollection of growing up bookish in a football-loving town, and the Ballad of John Henry ('John Henry was an English major and poetry was his line. He sat by the window with his yellow legal pad and he wrote one sentence at a time.') With guest appearances by Billy Collins, Roy Blount Jr., Robert Bly, Donald Hall, and Calvin Trillin.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Leave it to Keillor to satirize "Guy Noir: Private Eye," by exposing the M.F.A. degree as a tool of organized crime. The parodies of American literature, however, including Dickinson, Frost and Hawthorne, are generally sophomoric. You know whose woods these are. The collection of vintage performances improves in a 10-minute rendition of Macbeth, with the lead character as Mr. Rogers and Lady Macbeth as Julia Child. There are two versions of Hamlet, both of which reduce Ophelia's madness to "La, la, la." Yes, that's a quote. The Prairie Home Companion cast members fare better when they move away from parody. One of the best bits involves an English major (Keillor) working at a fast food job and correcting customers' misuse of "who" or "whom." Billy Collins's satirical ode to "The Lanyard" is both hilarious and astute. There are some nice fillers, including Meryl Streep reading Mary Oliver and Allen Ginsberg's overblown recital of Whitman's "Song of Myself." In the end, listeners will feel that these two so-so CDs could have been reduced to one good one. (Feb.)

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From the Publisher

You do not have to be a college graduate to enjoy A Prairie Home Companion English Majors; a taste for American poetry and a smattering of knowledge about American literature is enough.
—The Serious Comedy Site

. . . this compilation will certainly evoke laughs from listeners.
—AudioFile

JUN/JUL 08 - AudioFile

In this satirical collection of skits, Keillor pays tribute to, while simultaneously mocking, our literary tradition. With skits like "The Ten-Minute Macbeth," “Kerouac—Minnesota Style,” and an updated version of THE SCARLET LETTER, this compilation will certainly evoke laughs from listeners. Besides some of his own classic skits, such as “Guy Noir,” Keillor also includes several celebrity performances, including those of Dave Barry, Billy Collins, and Roy Blount, Jr. Overall, this compilation proves enjoyable, but some skits fall short of the mark in terms of their level of humor and interest. The abbreviated and revamped classics prove the most amusing as do the several skits that satirize grammar rules. L.E. 2009 Audies Winner © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170098545
Publisher:	HighBridge Company
Publication date:	03/04/2008
Edition description:	Unabridged

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