In the twenty-five years since Garrison Keillor first brought it to life, the rural Minnesota town of Lake Wobegon has become a national treasure. In this lavishly produced photography book, word and image combine to illuminate the real Minnesota town-life, landscapes, and people who inspired its creation.

Taking us on a tour of Stearns County, the Minnesota county he deems most “Wobegonic,” Keillor meditates on the origins of the place where, as a young writer, he found the inspiration for his fiction and his radio show. As an artful evocation of Keillor’s beloved invention, Richard Olsenius’s elegantly composed black-and-white photographs of rural Minnesota capture the dignity of his subjects, the beauties of the landscape as well as the enduring values and eccentricities of the communities rooted there. Photographs of the high school homecoming court, the tidy, austere working farm, the cozy villages, and summer barbecue at the lake are a visual feast for Lake Wobegon devotees as well as a moving tribute for anyone who feels the emotional claim of rural America.