"Hard-working humorist Roy Blount Jr. lives in the North but he's from the South, a delicious tension that has always informed and shaped his work. In this new collection, he directs his acerbic wit and finely-tuned insight toward the persistent and colorful differences between the two. His essays treat every conceivable topic on which North and South misunderstand each other, from music to sports, eating, education, politics, child-rearing, religion,...

"Upon the border of a remote and out-of-the-way village in south-western Missouri lived an old farmer named John Gray. . . ."In 1876, the same year The Adventures of Tom Sawyer was published, Mark Twain wrote a story for The Atlantic Monthly. He meant it as a "blind novelette"a challenge to other writers to submit their own ending of the story in a national competition. Twain asked his editor at The Atlantic to request submissions from leading authors...

"The author of Alphabet Juice presents a wry exploration of the complicated consequences of food choices in today's world, sharing meditative poems, limericks and satirical articles on subjects ranging from bacon froth and kobe beef to the global climate and personal health.,"--NoveList.