Lake of the Ozarks: My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America

The author has been a television story-teller for such a number of years that this reader can hear his distinctive voice and narrative style as I read this enjoyable book. Geist returns to his college days at his uncle’s resort, where he lives an independent life away from the strictures of his parents. Geist underlines the point that this resort no longer exists and neither does the innocent America that it represents. This is the charm of the book; ordinary Americans on vacation, pinching their pennies and eager to enjoy the resort amenities. However, the vacationers hardly matter in these stories. Geist’s focus is on the wait staff, the laundresses, the bellboys, and the gophers who are willing to perform any task dutifully because they are free to live as independent adults.

Unlike his parents, Uncle Ed and Aunt Janet, the owners of the resort, drive Cadillacs, have cocktails, and enjoy the good life. It is clear that the young Geist studied them for a clue to a more unrestrained lifestyle. Enjoy the return to middle America with waitresses in politically incorrect garb and college-age students intent on late-night exploits. This reader is made happy by this book and the clear writing and warm style of the writer and American treasure: Bill Geist.