Lake of the Ozarks My Surreal Summers in a Vanishing America

<b>Beloved TV host Bill Geist pens a reflective memoir of his incredible summers spent in the heart of America in this <i>New York Times </i>bestseller. </b><br>Before there was "tourism" and souvenir ashtrays became "kitsch," the Lake of the Ozarks was a Shangri-La for middle-class Midwestern families on vacation, complete with man-made beaches, Hillbilly Mini Golf, and feathered rubber tomahawks. <br><br> It was there that author Bill Geist spent summers in the Sixties during his school and college years working at Arrowhead Lodge-a small resort owned by his bombastic uncle-in all areas of the operation, from cesspool attendant to bellhop.<br><br> What may have seemed just a summer job became, upon reflection, a transformative era where a cast of eccentric, small-town characters and experiences shaped (some might suggest "slightly twisted") Bill into the man he is today. He realized it was this time in his life that had a direct influence on his sensibilities, his humor, his writing, and ultimately a career searching the world for other such untamed creatures for the <i>Chicago Tribune</i>, the <i>New York Times</i>, and <i>CBS News</i>.<br><br> In <i>Lake of the Ozarks</i>, Emmy Award-winning <i>CBS Sunday Morning</i> Correspondent Bill Geist reflects on his coming of age in the American Heartland and traces his evolution as a man and a writer. He shares laugh-out-loud anecdotes and tongue-in-cheek observations guaranteed to evoke a strong sense of nostalgia for "the good ol' days." Written with Geistian wit and warmth, <i>Lake of the Ozarks</i> takes readers back to a bygone era, and demonstrates how you can find inspiration in the most unexpected places.<br><br>