UP FROM NIGGER

The title reminds you that Gregory has transcended ""obsession with the system"" and embraced fruitarianism, astrology, and ""the universal order of life."" Happily, he can still deliver a swift kick at ""the system's"" backside. (""Earl Butz is something else. I'd say his popularity in America is about equivalent to that of the Grim Reaper."") This book, his tenth, is a cheery, cheeky mix of everything he's done and believed in. He breezes through the Selma March; his mayoral race against ""Massa Daley""; a White House reception for John Kennedy (""The room seemed filled with electricity. Later I would come to realize it probably was""); his personal theories on the assassinations; fasts, jailings, telegrams to the White House; his 1968 Presidential campaign, which had the backing of both Tim Leary and A1 Capp! There's no venom in his humor either--a wide, beatific grin extends over all the manic crusades. He can even joke about the fact that his former joke writer Bob Orlen now writes speeches for Gerald Ford. He may seem miscast in the Seventies, but he's still giving the lip to anyone who'll listen.