I was hoping for something interesting here since I spent a bit of time in the area in college. What I got can best be defined as "Boomer lit". Rambling, hard to follow, incoherent.

Had some good moments (the descriptions of Uncle Ed, throwing yourself a fake 21st birthday party to be served alcohol even though you're really underage), but at the end, I was a little disappointed. I found myself wanting to go back and watch some of Geist's stories, like hearing the inspiration for a story about an ironing competition. I would think his experiences would be enough to write several books; I was not aware he served in Vietnam. I wondered what the purpose of the book was; I am a bit young to remember some of these things, but could appreciate some of the objects of days gone by. For readers younger than I, I am not sure how they would connect or appreciate it.

I had this crazy idea, see, that mankind was evolving.

There were only a few things I knew about the Ozarks before reading this.

1. There was a lake there.

2. The Ozarks could've possibly been part of the Appalachians before the Mississippi River formed.

3. The lake is known for its crazy boaters.

Then Bill Geist came along here, laughed, and pushed all of those away and revealed what Lake of the Ozarks was like back in the 60s. Most people would be shocked at the social stuff from that era. In fact, this was before Lake Ozark was a town, and before credit cards, almost driverless cars, and believe it or not, an actually good version of AC! (Bill said the AC at Arrowhead Lodge would always be fussy, so whenever a customer came to complain about it, he and his friend, "Wheezer", would go and pretend to fix it for them and then say it was fixed.)

The parties from that era, were, hehe, a little bit improper for this era. If people tried to do that in this current decade (before or way after the pandemic), they would be arrested on the spot.

A bit goofy, and a bit of inappropriate stuff, but otherwise a really great read!

5***out of 5

Audiobook. I think the humor better translates when read - the narrator was kind of flat. This reminded me of Caddyshack and other 80’s summer movies of debauchery and shenanigans.

This was a great, quick read and I loved it. Maybe because I get sentimental for the vanished America about which Bill Geist is writing. Or sentimental for my own childhood in Missouri, where a trip to Lake of the Ozarks was a real adventure and a true treat. Geist's sweet and funny coming of age book is a somewhat loose collection of stories featuring exactly the kind of characters you'd want to meet at Arrowhead Lodge, where he spent his summers. It made me wish to go back in time to visit. I'll treasure this book always.