Juvenile Humor - Still Funny!

Remember back when you were in the eighth grade, and you found certain things hilarious that you're "too grown-up" to laugh about today? If you're at all like me, somewhere deep inside (or maybe not so deep?) you still want to laugh at those things, and still get a big hoot when you read about them.

I just finished reading an older Garrison Keillor book, "Summer, 1956," and there was a chapter in there that caused me to laugh until the tears streamed down my face. I was outside walking and reading when I read this (yes, I walk and read. Don't you?), and I had to cover my face, pretend to be rubbing it, when people drove by. I really wanted to share it with people, but I didn't want to type in the whole thing. So I searched online, and I FOUND IT! Well, most of it.

So I'm including a link to it here, with a bit of lead-in, and follow-on. But I warn you, you'd better be among friends, or by yourself when you read this, because you WILL laugh out loud. Sure, it's juvenile boy-humor, but still, if you don't want to call attention to yourself by your guffaws, then you might want to make sure no one is where they can hear you laughing.

Here's the lead-in, setting up the situation. Gary (the protagonist) made a remark in his 8th grade lunchroom that caused his friend to blow tapioca pudding out his nose. His friend wanted to do a paper on James Dean and his teacher wouldn't let him, and he was complaining about it to Gary. Gary said, "James Dean? Isn't he the one who made that movie, Booger Without a Cause? Of course, his friend choked with laughter, bringing the teacher-supervisor over to see what was going on and the friend was still choking. The teacher asked Gary what he'd said and he just said, "It wasn't funny," so the teacher called over the Mr. Halvorson, the principal, a "short, chinless man with a watery gaze and a permanent pained expression", and the teacher reported on Gary's homicidal behavior. Mr. Halvorson fussed around a bit, made some remarks, then left.

The story then picks up here. You can read just the indented part, and when you see "all then varieties" it's really supposed to be "all TEN varieties." To continue reading, click here, then come back and pick up with the next paragraph.

When Gary gets home, his mother is waiting for him. The teacher has called mom but simply can't bring herself to report the vile word that Gary used in class. Mom made Gary tell her and she shakes her head, saying, "What sort of Christian witness will you have if you go around talking like that?" To which Gary replies, "He asked me what I was thinking, and I told him. Should I have lied...?" and more. Eventually, mom says she doesn't see why people are so fascinated by what goes on in toilets. And Gary said, "But that's the point! He didn't do it in the toilet! He did it three feet in front of my face! He cut this tremendous stinker. And then he pretended it wasn't his. It hung there in the air and he acted like it was a bouquet of daisies!" Mom giggled against her will, and that was the end of the conversation.

See what I mean about juvenile humor? Still funny at our age, isn't it. I just HAD to share that with you here! Hope you enjoyed it.

By the way the rest of the book was good, but mildly boring. It was entertaining, but it didn't go anywhere. Maybe it wasn't supposed to. And it didn't really end, it just quit. I finished the last chapter, turned the page, and said, "Well? Where's the rest of it? Where's the ending?" I've also wondered whether Keillor wrote this book mainly to include this chapter.