Cycling Home From Siberia

Rob Lilwall is a middle school geography teacher who is, not surprisingly, bored with his life.  He is 27 years old, has no significant other, and has no big plans for the future.  So when he his old buddy Al emails Rob and asks him to ride with for the last leg of his round-the-world cycling trip, Rob says why not? So our hero hops a plane to the god forsaken Siberian town of Magadan.  It’s on the Eastern side of Siberia and everyone he meets tells him he will soon die in the subfreezing cold.  He is warned about…

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The Zombies of Lake Woebegotten

I’ve been a fan of Prairie Home Companion for about twenty years.  The show is a nice mixture of the silly, the maudlin, and downright brilliant.  But I have never been able to sit down and read one of Garrison Keillor’s novels about Lake Wobegon-where the women are strong, the men are good looking, and the children are all above average.  So I was a bit surprised when I saw a book, which on first glace-and many subsequent glaces- appeared to be a zombie story set in Lake Wobegon by Garrison Keillor. It was not overly surprised by this book,…

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