TEE HONEY BADGER

In the autumn a middle-aged man's fancy turns to thoughts of--- and that is about all that seems to be on the mind of Alec Barr, who has the Midas touch on his typewriter (books, films, etc.). At home he lives in a fair amount of uxorious tedium with Amelia and one night, Just before a dinner party, he walks out on Amelia who is dressed in her ""little black Hattie."" This then is an account of his rutting season to follow. Alec is a writer who can do only one thing at a time and now he concentrates on women; Barbara Bayne, an actress whom he follows to Spain (the bullfighting bit); Jill, a redheaded English woman (with a six year African stint before and after); Dinah, whom he had first known in his newspaper days; and then Dinah's daughter whom he marries. He does manage one book which brings him his second Pulitzer, timed with a medical verdict--he's got cancer of the prostate. This is the title reference and you will have to read the book to find out Just what the honey badger does...... The novel, as nonstop as a heavy headcold, has a certain unbridled energy, piped from the endocrine glands. And roue Ruark also drops a lot of names--from the Stork Club to 21, Beluga caviar to Pucci shirts. ... However, somewhere around the middle, Alec tries to get something out of his portable besides ""wooden characters... turned to stone""... But ""it all comes out crap."" He said it. We didn't.