European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 12, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Books satisfying Romp in the heartland with station we by Robert Lipsyte the new York times the people we Fly Over those no coastal heartland Nielsen families maddened by the wintry Prairie winds May produce More than their share of Ceon a and to anchors but they rarely see their visions affirmed on the National fantasy Loop. Steven Spielberg a suburbs and Stephen Kings Small towns and Woody Allens cities seem never to be in the heart of the heart of the country. And the postmodern novelists keep missing the banal yet dark dreams of Knut Hamsun and Theodore Dreiser. This is Why Garrison Keillor must be treated As a protected species. So sure and Quirky and hip who else could write a boys in the Midwest grow up without a word of Praise their parents fearful that a compliment might make them vain and by the age of 19, they Are Riding so Low their boat May be swamped by one Small  Keillor a Sailor on this land locked sea of life is Frank while formerly Francis with the most Anonymous person in the class of 1947. He is still a teen Ager when he arrives in Minneapolis from a Small town in North Dakota for a Job in radio this Quot warm thing that hums and reminds you of your  the Job was arranged by his Uncle a radio and Salesman who prepares him for big City life with such advice As a for fooling around with the girls with the Flat chests arc your hot babes. And a talker. You always want a woman with Good chops on her. Shell give you a lot of Yap but Shell give you a lot of Hubba Hubba  Keillor a irresistibly delicious novel wet a radio Romance uses radio As metaphor and gimmick in ways that Are not new in fact the splicing of the real and broadcast lives of radio min ran when of ild ii a radio Romance Garrison k e i l l o r Folk sounds tired. But in the chops of this essential storyteller it is vivid and hilarious and sometimes when it slyly alludes to the false values the Media has sold us it is downright subversive. As radio wet dramatic characters like to say a a it a awful hard to carry a full  and Rich folks on wet series never seemed very Happy unless like the Coopers of Golden years they had forsaken their City Palace to run a Rural diner and give away some of their millions whenever they heard a sad tale from a worthy soul. Keillor a precisely detailed yet woolly Saga begins in 1926, when Roy and Ray Sodir Bjorg hoping to become the Sandwich Kings of South Minneapolis open a restaurant in a lutheran mortuary that had once been the Pillsbury mansion. To boost lagging business they buy a radio License for $25 and broadcast programs from the dining room. Their station is called wet with lettuce and Tomato and from its first instant on the air it seizes its audience thanks to a dad Quot Bensons voice a that warm dry Minnesota voice with a slight Burr a Little catch in it a Little hesitation that got the listener leaning Forward into a wave of a false Friendship. That was radio in a nutshell. Announcers laying on the Charm to sell you hair  the Soderb Jurgs Are shocked by their instant Success. Would be advertisers fight for air time. Dutch Brand Coffee wants a show with lots of Coffee drinking so dad created Friendly neighbor in which he and his family cat lunch and gossiped. Other shows follow scripture nuggets and current events and Avis Burnette Small town librarian. One of the radio cowgirls Patsy Konopka a pretty theosophist so a sick of yodelling 1 could spit a talks Ray Sodir Bjorg the old a bed dancer a into letting her create shows. She is soon grinding out 100 pages a Day and fantasizing about the Young Man in the apartment upstairs Frank White. She is too tired to try to meet him she can Only imagine him in her scripts. Lets pause for a word of warning those who love Garrison Keillor As that warm dry radio voice restricted by broadcast codes May be delighted or appalled by the relentless sex and sea ology of this Book. Its dirty in that old bathroom sniggering Way which i found simply Guf awful. There is something so determinedly adolescent about the endless eating and sex that it seems like a returning Art form. Keillor a finest set piece is a gospel Church tour with the Rowdy Shepherd boys. It puts the a fun in fundamentalism and May be the greatest literary bus trip since the electric Kool Aid acid test. And much funnier. Keillor a easy conversational style occasionally Cloys and while the meandering plot has a plan he loses interesting characters along the Way. The ending is abrupt. But those arc criticisms of the Book 1 would have had him write. The one he did write is a satisfying Romp with a shrewd yarn Mas tar who can make you howl. The Midwest sensibility compassionate and knowing yet unsentimental is also Worth the Price of admission. And the metaphor holds. The ultimate cheesy Triumph of Frank White comes in television. That gorgeous and demented child of radio is perfectly described Early on a they will invent something. It la have the same effect As Bourbon but it wont give you headaches or upset the stomach so it la be used even by the kiddos. It la earn  steel again feeds her hungry readers by Kathleen Ostrander up no greater love Danielle steels 2nih Book lakes readers Back to the sweeping tragedy of the sinking of the unlink Nolc titanic. Terror comes alive through the eyes of the Winfield family. It should have been the Best of limes a Edwina Winfield the eldest daughter Ami the family were travelling Back from England on her engagement trip. Her dashing Fiance was accompanying the will iced Elan Back to America. But one dark and cold night at sea shatters the family s plans and dreams. Her Fiance and parents go Down with the ship and leave Edwina to raise five Young children and take on the family business. For Edwina love is lost and she must grow up  single stroke. Stable Phillip the eldest boy helps but then he goes off to Harvard and world War i. George the Madcap of the family goes to Hollywood to make his Fortune. Alexis the Princess of the family follows and nearly brings great tragedy Back to the family. This is True steel lots of preying on human fears and trembling emotion. Edwina is Only superficially developed. The two youngest girls arc developed by lumping them into two pages and saying they obviously did no to want to go to College and Are happier at Home. But for All her trite Ness and superficiality steel gives her fans what they want. Her books Are like Comfort food. This helping of mashed potatoes and Gravy should do just As Well As the others on the  suitable read in a suitable vengeance Elizabeth George brings us again a richly tax turd tale of mystery and accomplishment. It features detective inspector Thomas Lynley. He brings his betrothed to his ancestral Home not knowing the Savage murder of a town journalist will Lead to a series of events that changes everyone at the estate. In give Friendship and deceit Are Woven around the mystery of who killed the journalist and whose secrets did he hide. The Only criticism one can make of George is she sometimes is too Tricky a weaving her stories with layers and layers of characters that can make the casual Reader too weary to finish. Ostrander the stars and stapes Book department says wet no greater love and a suitable vengeance Are available in its bookstores Page 8 a sunday january 12. 1992