Combining a career in live radio performances and equally lively short story writing for the "New Yorker, " Garrison Keillor has continually charmed fans and readers with his homespun wit and warmth. While acknowledging his career highlights, this full-length critical study supports Keillor's own view of himself as writer rather than performer, by examining his literary accomplishments and giving serious analysis of his fictional works. In order to understand his tremendous popular appeal, Songer situates Keillor within the rich literary heritage associated with American humorists such as...