{"product_id":"radio-romance-9780571165773","title":"Radio Romance","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe glory days of Midwest radio prove the ideal subject for old radio-hand Keillor  now writing at the height of his awesome power  which could make a homesick cat laugh. Brothers Ray and Roy Soderbjerg set up station WLT (With Lettuce and Tomato) in Minneapolis in 1926 to draw crowds to their wilting sandwich restaurant. The station proves a gold mine after the two reluctantly agree to allow commercials  and the brothers turn their somewhat divided attention (Rays chief vocation is sex  Roys inventing the unnecessary) to the new medium. The novel takes off on a sustained joyride as a hilarious bunch of characters are hired to fill the air with the cornball  pseudo-pious  pseudo- populist fare that held the Midwest in thrall until television offered a superior snow job. Keillor continually contrasts the smutty  lust-filled lives of the cast and crew in the studio with the wholesome  homespun drivel they broadcast. On air  for example  Little Becky is a winsome angel  but look out--the chain-smoking child star will perform the crudest of practical jokes on the unwary. A blind sports announcer  a crushingly cheerful songstress confined to her wheelchair by polio and fat  and a dissolute group of gospel singers are just some of the superb oddities that people Keillors pages. A straight man to these comic figures and the novels hero is young Francis With  who comes of age at the station and goes on to great things. The comedy is as broad as it comes  but it also has a depth that includes poignancy  particularly as it records the stations downhill slide. Humor and insight into the heart of raunchy America dont get any better than this. -- Copyright 1991  Kirkus Associates\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45276946399285,"sku":"ByrdShop_057116577X","price":97.54,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780571165773.jpg?v=1780567005","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/radio-romance-9780571165773","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}