I set out thinking I wasn’t going to enjoy Garrison Keillor and his tales of Lake Wobegon. American, sentimental, nostalgic, corny, ‘Thurberesque’ – his world, as described by critics, seemed to have all the ingredients likely to deter a hard-bitten and frivolous Englishman. But the Americans have a wonderful way of winning one over and they do it with their sincerity. Keillor may be sweetcorn but there is nothing phoney about him.

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