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Much antic By Herb Reeves Humorist Garrison Keillor's appearancc of USC's Spring Writers Series is attract rivaled only by novelist Kurt Vonnegut's \;oorc n r?r\ o I IQf"* InfArmoti/An Qori;ipoc r JV.U1 o ?5,w, a niiui iiiauuii jti vitvj v said. "In fact, the response might be soinew Hill said. "We've had inquiries from some ly don't hear from. And I've heard that o from the Lowcountry is planning to come Keillor, who has written for The Ne\ Atlantic Monthlv. will sneak at 8 n.m. Auditorium. A reception will follow. Many of his pieces have been collectec Atheneum under the title "Happy to be H< on sale at the University Bookstore and z prior to his evening appearance. There wi party in his honor at 3:30 p.m. tomorro\ Bookstore. Keillor's popularity comes from his role of "A Prairie Home Companion," a week show broadcast live at 6 p.m. on Saturd about 200 stations nationwide. Next to National Public Radio's daily n Things Considered," "A Prairie Home C< bably the most popular program on public Born in Anoka, Minn., Keillor became ir in the 1950s, especially in the works of " great infield of Thurber. Lieblinn. Perelmz "They were my heroes," he said in the Ml ! I * - musical wu Chip Franklin performs his brand of humor o Overdue Lud By Chris Handal In the realm of the thriller, no one comes close to Robert Ludlum, and with "The Aquitaine Progression," he once again shows why he is the master of this genre. The novel, which took two years to write, ranks with the best that Ludlum has produced. Basically, he writes formula novels. He starts with a male character (five times he has been a professional spy, five times an ordinary citizen) and then sets the character against some fanatical adversary. In the process, Ludlum cuts off his hero from society and organized law enforcement. The fun comes in seeing how the hero resolves the situation. "The Aquitavnine Progression" departs somewhat from this formula, ^with mixed results. Joel Converse, an international lawyer who cannot speak, any foreign languages, is assigned the task of saving the world in three weeks or less. In Geneva, he learns that a powerful i I ipation precei : tomorrow as part ing media interest f appearance a few iepartment official hat greater," Ann They WGTG my hGTOI people we normal- 0ne blind, one fat, one d ne group of people , ,, up on a bus." rancher... v Yorker and The tomorrow in Belk 1 and published by ^re." Copies will be it Belk Auditorium V. ill be an autograph v in the University as creator and host ;ly, two-hour radio book:"four older gentlemen, ays, and heard on and one a chicken rancher, ai against the big mazumbos lews program "All cheered for them. ^mpanion" is pro- "I cheer for them now, all : radio. think (as 1 thought then) that iterested in writing God and better for us as a p< The New Yorker's sharp and funny about the liv m and White. and flabby about God or the infrnHiirtinn tn Vlic Inkn I ? uiiiuuutlivii iw 111J JWI1II UUlUJtU, Willing III : : ' ' I . ,'N- - '' Kit jjlfkt/s -1- n" V't""-:' v _ W#V > ^3 ' ' jvmpv < -_s; ./ V sis? i ifimSHHSBBHSBnHraaHH Photo by Joseph Garnett in guitar and piano. lum novel entic I ? ? tn ? i * * siuup ui gcnciais icau uy iviau iviar- thinki cus" Delevane, the warlord of Saigon, two yi plan to take over the Western world and c? for its own good. We To add an extra dimension to the is eon novel, Converse spent time in a North tippin Vietnamese POW camp because of a pages bad decision by Delevane. Tlu Converse is systematically cut off readei from legitimate authorities, but he is novel not totally alone. But A U.S. Naval officer joins him in nlexit the quest to stop the generals. Also, sion" there is a mysterious group of spys and The ex-spys somehow involved with ment Converse. blood These varations keep the novel from of nc being completely predictable, but they finish also muddle the situation. At times, it Ch< is hard to keep up with what is and tl happening. the cc While all of Ludlum's novels have "Tl been intricate, "The Aquitaine Pro- worth gression" surpasses Ludlum's previous Ludlu plot machinations. will bi The result is that-the reader is often Tw< confused. One can almost see Ludlum Ludlu inmenT eds Keillor's es: four older gentlemen, lelicate and one a chicken ? Popular humorist Garrison Keillor one blind, one fat, one delicate, Review c id in my mind they took the field Thurber of American Literature, and 1 put the i dead except Mr. White, and still "Ever it is more worthy in the eyes of suppertii ?ople if a writer make 300 pages of ragtii es of geese than to make 300 flat Wobego American people." with cari the May 1983 issue of Saturday spins no Comic music audience at d.. d :>i uy nony DidiuivvdiiB Thursday at the Golden Spur was ano Carolina Program Union-sponsored ni but this time, the Spur had more than a musician. In addition to the varied and talei musical groups usually featured at the Si a new kind of talent was presented ? co dian/musician Chip Franklin. Franklin, a performer from Washing D.C., area, has quite a list of credits ur his belt. He has performed at seveial uni sities around the country, including Ger Mason, Boston and the University of Mia FRANKLIN HAS also opened for m well-known musical groups such as Ramones, Jackson Browne, Atlanta Rhyl r."^?iu o 1 " i ov-ciiuu, uaII i ugciucig, OlUOKCy KODinS Joni Mitchell and Warren Zevon. In addil j to his many concerts, Franklin has appes on radio programs. On Thursday night, Franklin pla before a small and unenthusiastic crowc only about 40 people at the peak of the e\ ing. Franklin's disappointment at the crc size seemed to affect his perfomance at beginning. I ne started out slow and just could j seem to get the show on the road. O warmed up, however, Franklin skillfully ed the small crowd to his advantage by couraging increased audience participatic Franklin carried on spontaneous conve es but is mui ng: "Gee, if I'm going to spend ;urs on this novel, it better be bit? ! - implex." 11, "The Aquitaine Progession," iplex and it is his longest novel, g the scales at a healthy 647 ; novel may be too long. Most rs cannot breeze through this in an evening or two. prit iricmc r?f l?nn(h ? ? vi 1V115111 anu v^uniy aside, "The Aquitaine Progres- is|r does provide exciting reading. ;re are few forms of entertainthat match Ludlum. The novel is f m y, violent and tense. It is the kind I jr >vel that compels a reader to J ipters have cliff-hanging endings f he action rarely subsides during * >urse of the novel. ie Aquitaine Progression" was the two year wait, but one hopes m will trim his next novel so it e in bookstores within a year. Robert I 3 years is too long to be without a The inte m thriller. taine Proj visit to USO describes Keillor as "the man who has crossed James , Fulton J. Sheen, and The Andy Griffen Show and result on (national radio). y Saturday, approximately 2 million Americans spend ne with 'A Prarie Home Companion,' Keillor's blend ne, folk music, stories and mock ads from Lake n ?the Minnesota-style Brigadoon where lime Jell-O rots is still stylishly yummy, and where life in general faster than a Grain Belt beer sign." _B - :ian aisappoinis Golden Spur tions with several audience members. In fact, ther at times, witty audience comments actually ght, enhanced the show. just YVl l H A lull and varied repertoire ranging ited from stand-up comedy to music, Franklin pur, graced the stage at the Spur for nearly three mie- hours. Franklin's humor was basically average ? >ton at times, above ? but all-in-all, he seemed to . ider lack real talent in timing and delivery. Many ver- parts of his show were not well-polished and oge came out sounding forced, imi. Audience members seemed to think that Franklin's ineptness was due to nerves. The any small crowd seemed to put Franklin on edge, the expecially at first. ihm The actual content of Franklin's humor ion, was also average. He commented on many tion subjects, including the stupidity of tred technology, humorous habits between couples, regional humor and jokes about yed childhood. 1 ? PERHAPS HIS most amusing jokes were /en- about TV commercials and songs. Franklin's )wd ingenious sound effects lent much to his the humor, but again, many of his jokes ran out of sieam halfway through the show, not Franklin's real talent, however, seemed to >nce lie in the musical half of his show. His us- specialty, he claims, is "acid-Western." en- Cleverly written songs such as "Why I >n. Hate the Beach Boys" delighted the aursa dience. ?h fnn Innn ill 1UU IUI81J lW> * .udlum ^nationally pubnsned author is "at his best" with "The Aqui jression."