NOW, WHERE WERE WE?

by ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 15, 1989

Here's a gathering of nearly 50 varied pieces from the New Bard of the Old South (though maybe that should be the other way 'round). Blount's ear is cocked and his hand is sure in this literate, comical collection of nourishing tidbits that originally appeared in venues as disparate as Penthouse and The New York Times, TV Guide, and Think. Mixed with familiar Rebel ribaldry and Dixie doggerel, there is some upright philosophical maundering here, too. It's not just the way Blount can measure a situation (as in, ""'Uh-oh,' I thought, and I was right""). His instincts are also sound. About winning being the only thing, he says that ""Lombardi's famous saying is crazy."" It takes an adult to point that out and then to cite William Blake and Angelo Dundee. Sodomy is discussed Blountly, and he even knows how to reduce the Federal deficit. Roy says everyone should ""go down to the post office and buy two rolls of stamps and throw them away."" If a health spa catches his fancy (as it does because he felt ""like a pile of old leaves""), he also offers a paean to whiskey. An open-minded man. A fair-minded man. A master of the short sentence. And nonsentence. And nonsense, too, while he's at it. If some of the streams of Blount's consciousness are not to a reader's taste, the next page or two will produce something different. While scattered bits and pieces may not quite hang together, the decent good humor of the whole offering sustains and refreshes. Blount (Not Exactly What I Had in Mind, 1985; Crackers, 1980; etc.), as sharp as ever, is now more thoughtful and writerly as well.

Pub Date: March 15, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Villard/Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1989

Categories: NONFICTION