On July 6, 1974, in a small concert hall at Macalester College, "A Prairie Home Companion" debuted as a live radio show in front of an auspicious audience of about twelve people. It "was about as awful as a show could possibly be, and we have the tapes to prove it," recalls host Garrison Keillor. Thankfully, the show improved considerably over the years and today over two-and-a-half million listeners tune in each week to hear that friendly, familiar mix of music, humor, and storytelling. The dictionary defines a "commonplace book" as a notebook in which one records quotations, poems, extracts, and memorabilia. In "A Prairie Home Companion"'s 25th year, Keillor and friends compiled a commonplace book of amusing facts, recollections, scripts, behind-the-scenes photos, recipes, commercials--a whole alphabet of fun from "Autoharp" to "Zenith." Heavily illustrated with over 100 photos, plus new, previously unpublished material by Garrison Keillor, it all adds up to a complete picture of a much-loved part of popular culture and one of America's favorite radio programs.
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