Lake Wobegon

In this collection of stories about small-town life, Dale takes a step toward manhood and Darlene sets off for Minneapolis to begin a new life.

At the age of fourteen, never having kissed a girl except his own cousin but very eager to try, Gary gets an Underwood typewriter and starts producing fantastic tales about talking dogs, fatal blood diseases, tornadoes, and the lady with the torch.

A national holiday in Lake Wobegon is always gaudy and joyful. But when the major planner behind the Fourth of July parade and the twenty-four-year-old girl who dresses up as the Statue of Liberty develop a close "friendship," rumors begin to fly. What will happen is anybody's guess as CNN and the governor put in an appearance in Lake Wobegon -- home to a good loving people who drive each other crazy.

A mysterious virus has infiltrated the good people of Lake Wobegon, transmitted via unpasteurized cheese made by a Norwegian bachelor farmer, the effect of which is episodic loss of social inhibition. Mayor Alice, Father Wilmer, Pastor Liz, the Bunsens and Krebsbachs, formerly taciturn elders, burst into political rants, inappropriate confessions, and rhapsodic proclamations, while their teenagers watch in amazement. Meanwhile, a wealthy outsider...