Camels Are Easy, Comedy's Hard - Hardcover

Blount Jr., Roy

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679400532 ISBN 13: 9780679400530

Publisher: Villard, 1991

Synopsis

The celebrated Southern humorist presents a new collection of essays, observations, odd thoughts, songs, and crossword puzzles that address such topics as the "National Geographic" magazine, hyenas, and kissing

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews

Fresh from a sojourn as novelist (First Hubby, 1990), funny essayist Blount, Jr. (Now, Where Were We?, Not Exactly What I Had In Mind, etc.), returns to his usual modus operandi with a widely varied collection of entertainments. Blount is more pointed and trenchant than ever in this package of reportage, book reviews, poetry (O.K., Blount, we won't mention ``doggerel'' again--how's ``light verse''?), character sketches, travel writing, and, Lord help us, crossword puzzles. And it's all terrific. Despite an occasional dizzying shift in tenses, Blount's writing just gets better and better. The author rivals the Perils of Perelman in Westward, Ha! when he undertakes dog-sledding in Vermont, a safari in Africa, or assaults by piranha and by a memorable guide on a Conrad-like trip up the Amazon. There's a set piece, in true southern intonations, on how the narrator's old Mama became a famous storyteller; for those of a religious bent, there's also an exegesis on the Book of J. Then there are the folks Blount likes (Jimmy Carter and the late Gilda Radner) and the folks he doesn't (the Oval Office's incumbent and his predecessor, as well as malefactors of great wealth). Find out more than anyone ought to know about coon-dog hunting competitions and synchronized swimming meets (in which the girls offer such aquatic show-stoppers as Blitzkrieg-1939 or Rosh Chodesh-Israelean Festival). In a dozen crosswords, Blount explodes words and reassembles them to ``create advanced, antiestablishment, biodegradable crossword puzzles for gain.'' ``The public,'' he says, ``knows what it wants--something dumb--and it isn't easily fooled.'' Yet he may just be the writer to do the fooling; here's a text that's just clever and giddy enough. Comedy may indeed be hard for the moribund, as the old show- biz chestnut has it. But Blount, showman that he is, sure makes it look a lot easier than either dying or camels. All in all, some hard-shell writing talent. -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Library Journal

"Have you ever considered writing something serious?" People ask this of Blount all the time, but he says, after thinking it over, "Nah." Along with a quick flip through this book, that should give you an idea that Blount is delivering more of what he is so justly famous for: humor, humor, and more humor. Not only does he explain the title of the book, he also holds forth on a variety of current events and social topics: free speech, the Gulf, Atlantic City junkets, and aerobic guilt, to name a few. He also has a way with words, deftly spelling out, in various places, the sounds some of our four-footed friends make: "aooo, aooo" (dog), "eeeurghgr'gl'gl'gblglglglghg'blegh" (camel). Or sounds humans make: "scrarglesgggrklblnk glgnk" (rummaging through a toolbox). Also included: 12 crosswords Blount did for Spy magazine. Recommended.
- Carol Spielman Lezak, General Learning Corp., Northbrook, Ill.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Villard
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0679400532
• ISBN 13: 9780679400530
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 303