The day the barbarians came, George Bush was out in a boat on the Potomac River with Willie Horton, fishing, and Willie said, "Mister Butch, how come you always be jigglin and tappin yo foot? Man, those fish ain't going to come within a mile of us if you makin this racket. Let yo foot be, man. Sit still."

(Speed forward)

(George) pushed the brim of his L.L. Bean fishing hat down and took a long pull on a Budweiser. The fact was, he had been tired of fishing two minutes after they started, and he was tired of Willie. Despite all he owed to the man, he didn't much care for hanging around with the guy. Too pushy, too talkative by half, like so many cons--lots of time on their hands, years, so they read book after book, law books, classics, Great Book stuff--fine, great, but don't tell me about it, okay, pal? No sense of humor, these guys...And Willie was right, something was eating him, and it was the barbarians. Vast hordes of barbaric Huns had invaded Chicago that morning... (pp 273,274)

That, my friends, is only a small sample of Garrison Keillor's highly irreverent, tongue-in-cheek novel, The Book of Guys, which is a collection of sixteen short stories such as this one about George Bush. It was extremely difficult choosing what to share with you, as you might gather. His bestseller Lake Woebegone Days does not outshine this later work at all, in my opinion.

He was inspired to write about the humorous side of men by casually attending one night deep in the woods the annual "Bernie campfire and drunken orgy of song and self-pity," attended by "desperate low-lifes who will tell you a long story for a five-dollar loan." At first look, Keillor wanted to leave. But he stayed to eat chili out of a can, passing booze around the swaying circle around the fire, and complaining about women until six in the morning, frozen probably in place.

As a woman I find this novel totally hilarious and so very, very honest in showing the colors of men and their relationships with themselves, women and other men. There is one story about the Greek God Dionysus who leads a life of pleasure and overindulgence to put it mildly. Suddenly his long-suffering wife tells him he's fifty and he is bewildered to notice what he really looks like in the mirror. He confronts Zeus his father with an explanation of why he is no longer a god and immortality didn't last forever. Rather sad, I agree, but told in a very flippant way to keep you in stitches. Trust me!

Some of the other memorable stories are about Buddy the Leper, who finally gets and then loses a "babe," Don Giovanni, the great lover of women, and Omoo the Wolf Boy, who never intended to become a wolf, but when his mother died, he ran away and the wolves took him in. I think you can see a pattern to Keillor's selection of characters by now. He wants us to see how troubled men are today because of the way they grew up relating to women. At least that's my take of it.

In any case, you are guaranteed to laugh throughout this book while at the same time reflect on the deeper message Keillor puts across. It may be something different to you and that's okay. At the least it will provoke a lot of thought as you laugh your way through. Just remember to suspend your belief and realize this is only a novel. The Huns aren't really invading Chicago!

Recommended: Yes