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    A Christmas Blizzard
    A Christmas Blizzard
    A Christmas Blizzard
    Audiobook4 hours

    A Christmas Blizzard

    Written by Garrison Keillor

    Narrated by Garrison Keillor

    3/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A short comic novel about a Hawaii-bound holiday traveler who ends up stranded in his North Dakota hometown during a blizzard.A wealthy and depressed man (thanks to the economy he's not quite rich enough to expand his cache of paintings by Vincent Van Guy, the famed Dutch realist) bound for Christmas in the tropics is abruptly summoned home to North Dakota to visit an ailing aunt. He arrives just in time to be trapped there by a blizzard. The electricity goes out, and when it does, figures from his childhood appear, and historical figures too, for a festive candlelit holiday. In his reverie, our man reaches an epiphany worthy of the season-he hears the harkening angels sing, he is awed by the silence of the night (dead quiet: not even TV) and when he is finally rescued, leaves North Dakota resolved to simplify his life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHighbridge Company
    Release dateNov 10, 2009
    ISBN9781598879384
    A Christmas Blizzard
    Author

    Garrison Keillor

    Garrison Keillor, born in Anoka, Minnesota, in 1942, is an essayist, columnist, blogger, and writer of sonnets, songs, and limericks, whose novel Pontoon the New York Times said was “a tough-minded book . . . full of wistfulness and futility yet somehow spangled with hope”—no easy matter, especially the spangling. Garrison Keillor wrote and hosted the radio show A Prairie Home Companion for more than forty years, all thanks to kind aunts and good teachers and a very high threshold of boredom. In his retirement, he’s written a memoir and a novel. He and his wife, Jenny Lind Nilsson, live in Minneapolis and New York.

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    Reviews for A Christmas Blizzard

    3/5

    92 ratings22 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This is the story of Jack Sparrow, a man who made his money in an energy additive. He dislikes the Christmas holiday but his wife loves it. He has decided to fly to Hawaii but first he has to fly back to his hometown Looseleaf, North Dakota to visit his dying Uncle Earl. Once he gets there a bit of strangeness ensues. He gets snowed in of course so he can't leave right away. He ends up staying in a fishing shack on a frozen lake where he encounters a talking wolf and other strange things start occurring that make him rethink his feelings for the holiday.Wow, this is way out of the realm of what I would generally read. There were just some parts that were way too strange for me and I just didn't get. However, there were some parts that made me laugh which is why I gave it 3 stars. I received this book through LibraryThing member giveaways. A review was not requested in exchange for the book but I still wanted to post my honest review.
    • 4/5
      Poor James Sparrow. He?s a sad man with a happy life. Wealthy and just looking to escape Christmas in Chicago and any frozen metal that may be calling, Hawaii seems just the ticket (on his private jet, of course). Unfortunately, in taking a short detour to visit a sick uncle, James winds up stranded by a blizzard in his hometown of Looseleaf, ND. Minor shades of A Christmas Carol ensue. This is a laugh-out-loud funny, absurd, goofball kind of a story that is surprisingly endearing. Also, the book itself is lovely in a Christmasy sort of way ? red cover, green flyleaf, no dust jacket and with a scene from the story edged in gold leaf on the cover. I?m adding it to my small pile of Christmas favorites.
    • 4/5
      If you enjoy A Prairie Home Companion, my guess is that you will enjoy this quickly read little book. It is delightful to look at and hold, but I almost wish I had listened to the audio version with Keillor's melodious voice. It contains the usual Garrison Keillor silliness including long unpronouncable names repeated with frequency, an obsessive childhood fear of pump handles, and lots of quirky characters and situations. Nestled in with the silliness, however, are some genuine warm fuzzies and more than a few laughs.Scrooge...er, I mean James Sparrow...longs to escape a cold Chicago Christmas and retreat with the sad, but lovely Mrs. Sparrow to Kuhikuhikapapa'u'maumau, Hawaii. Instead, he is called to the deathbed of his Uncle Earl and ends up stranded in an ice fishing shack on Lake Winnesissebigosh during a North Dakota blizzard. It is so cold there that all the thermometers stop at minus 40 degrees because "that was as much cold as anyone here cared to know about."It is pretty predictable, but A Christmas Blizzard provides several hours of Christmas cheer to Garrison Keillor fans.
    • 5/5
      Classic Garrison Keillor. If you like him he's great, if you don't, he's unintelligible. I like him. the run on sentences, the wild divergences from the point. Best to read out loud in the manner of Keillor.
    • 4/5
      Really very funny in parts!
    • 3/5
      Jack Sparrow, a self-made millionaire has decided that rather than spending Christmas in cold, snowy Chicago, he would prefer sunny Hawaii. He sets off in his private plane, sans wife who is ill, but is diverted to Loose Leaf, North Dakota, his home town to see a dying uncle. He gets trapped by a blizzard and is forced to do a good deal of soul searching when he encounters old friends and family.I listened to the audio version (narrated by the author) who left a lot to be desired in the narration area. I frequently felt as if the battery (there was none) was winding down because his voice just seemed to drag. This made the story to drag. Because of this, I doubt I will read anything else by this author.
    • 4/5
      Started this book on a road trip to South Dakota which resulted in some Christmas snow. Another good Garrison Keillor story that spins out details, characters, and geography of the upper great plains.
    • 3/5
      This quirky little tale will undoubtedly appeal to some people while it may annoy others. Not your standard Keillor offering and not a retelling of Dickens’ tale, it has a charm all its own. Stranded in a cold, northern state when he wanted to be in Hawaii, our protagonist is visited by people from the past – his own as well historical figures. What is really happening is best left to the reader’s imagination. To reap the most from this story, you should listen to the audio version, read by the author and enhanced by delightful background music.
    • 2/5
      What could have been a touching and funny Christmas reclamation story takes a bizarre, unexplained turn toward the end that undoes the whole experience.
    • 4/5
      Weirdly good.
    • 1/5
      difficult to follow or make any sense of. boring
    • 4/5
      Set in North Dakota with shades of A Christmas Carol, this was an enjoyable Christmas Story. A tale about appreciating the little things, not sure what else to say other than this is a good story especially for North Dakotans! (or anyone who likes the Christmas Carol premise) Highly recommend. 4 Stars
    • 3/5
      Imagine Garrison Keilor telling a Christmas story--it's set somewhere in Minnesota or Wisconsin, in the north but not too far north, and includes salt of the earth people, wry humor and sly pokes at some upper midwest types as well as a subtle point and a happy ending. Here it is, only minus Keilor's rumbling voice and perfect verbal timing.
    • 3/5
      "A Christmas Carol", or an approximation thereof, comes to North Dakota courtesy of Garrison Keillor, the little Dickens. James Sparrow, a very rich son of Looseleaf, North Dakota, wakes up shortly before Christmas ( a holiday he dreads and seeks to escape to Hawaii). But a phone call from his hometown sends him back for the first time in ten years to see his beloved Uncle Earl, who is dying with no regrets. He is stranded there by a major blizzard, and a sequence of strange and mysterious events churn up old memories and traumas, and help him find what Christmas means, at least as it pertains to him and his loving wife. Not one of Keillor's better efforts; it has its moments of quirky charm and whimsy (many of them), but they don't really knit together into a well-crafted story.
    • 2/5
      Fans of Keillor's wacky humor should enjoy this tale about a guy who hates Christmas. His visit to a dying uncle in North Dakota (and his meeting up with a talking wolf) during a crazy blizzard starts him thinking otherwise. I laughed, but the book was a bit over the top for me.
    • 4/5
      Keillor 's offbeat brand of humor shines through in this tale of a modern day Scrooge who returns home to visit a dying uncle. While staying at a fishing shack on a frozen lake, Jack Sparrow has several...visions...which eventually turns him from Scrooge to a man who loves Christmas.As usual, Keillor makes the reader laugh and think with his Christmas tale.
    • 3/5
      A middle-aged billionaire wants to spend Christmas at his estate in Hawaii, but his wife would rather stay home. His plans to take the corporate plane are derailed as a blizzard strands him near his childhood home in North Dakota, leading to remembrances of times gone by he generally prefers not to think about-- and how a chance encounter led to his enormous wealth. This is typical Keillor: humor, reminiscence, and the ocassional dig at Republicans. His fans won't be disappointed.
    • 3/5
      It's December, so it's time to read the many Christmas novels that come out this time of year. A cross between the A Christmas Carol and A Prairie Home Companion skit, A Christmas Blizzard by Garrison Keillor tells the story of a rich businessman living in Chicago who takes a trip to his hometown in North Dakota around Christmas. Although the characters and story line are interesting, I got the feeling that this was a short story that was "bulked" up to meet the needs of the publisher. I felt myself wanting to speed read to get to the end. However if you're a fan of Keillor, you'll enjoy the quirky approach. I could practically hear the cadence of the author's voice reading the story to me. Although it was a fun read, there are many better stories that I'd recommend before jumping into this Christmas story.
    • 2/5
      Like many others, I am a fan of Garrison Keillor. I faithfully listen to his daily NPR broadcast, "The Writer's Almanac," and try never to miss reading his column on the internet. When possible, I listen to his popular radio show, "A Prairie Home Companion." Of the three, my least favorite is the radio show. I enjoy the variety of musicians and other guests. I even enjoy listening to Garrison sing occasionally, or at least try to sing. My least favorite part of "Prairie Home Companion" are his "News From Lake Wobegon" dialogues. Garrison Keillor is a master of painting character sketches, but they do seem to drag on and on and on. And that is what brings me to this, his latest novel, "A Christmas Blizzard." This is really a prolonged "News From Lake Wobegon" dialogue, only rather than end after five minutes or so, it drones on for all of 180 pages. I kept wondering what was going on, who was who, and what was the point of whatever the story was about. When I finally reached the end of the novel, I found mayself confused and very little amused. This is a book for those who love Mr. Keillor's reminiscences of the imaginary Lake Wobegon and his character sketches of the lovable and amusing folks who live there. But as for me, I prefer listening to "The Writer's Almanac" and reading his editorials.
    • 4/5
      James Sparrow, millionaire owner of an energy drink company, hates Christmas. Though he can't bring himself to admit it to anyone, his fear of getting his tongue stuck to frozen metal haunts him throughout the cold Chicago winter. Seeking to escape he jumps in his private jet and takes off for Hawaii. When he gets stranded in a blizzard during an impromptu stop in his hometown of Looseleaf, North Dakota he will have to face his fears. With the assistance of a variety of strange and wondrous helpers (Big Hair Lady, a wolf, and cousin Liz) he discovers the true meaning of Christmas. What could be better then a hilarious and heartwarming Christmas story written and read by Garrison Keillor?! I listened to the audio version and Keillor's rich and distinctive voice only add to this pitch perfect Christmas tale. As you would expect, it is hysterically funny and touching too. This audio book is a great way to get yourself into the holiday spirit!
    • 4/5
      Poor James Sparrow. He’s a sad man with a happy life. Wealthy and just looking to escape Christmas in Chicago and any frozen metal that may be calling, Hawaii seems just the ticket (on his private jet, of course). Unfortunately, in taking a short detour to visit a sick uncle, James winds up stranded by a blizzard in his hometown of Looseleaf, ND. Minor shades of A Christmas Carol ensue. This is a laugh-out-loud funny, absurd, goofball kind of a story that is surprisingly endearing. Also, the book itself is lovely in a Christmasy sort of way – red cover, green flyleaf, no dust jacket and with a scene from the story edged in gold leaf on the cover. I’m adding it to my small pile of Christmas favorites.
    • 4/5
      An amusing, fast read about a multi-millionaire, James Sparrow who doesn't like Christmas and his unlikely redemption. Elements of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, Native American lore, It's a Wonderful Life, silliness and hope, I truly enjoyed A Christmas Blizzard. James has to return home to Looseleaf, North Dakota to see his Uncle Earl before he dies and gets stuck in a blizzard over the Christmas holidays.