#59 Empty Shelf Challenge 02 [101 in 1001]

My first review for the challenge can be found here.

Book: You Can't Put No Boogie-Woogie on the King of Rock and Roll .

Author: Lewis Grizzard

Info: Copyright 1991 Villard Books

Where acquired: Public Library book sale.

Availability: Used copies are available through amazon.com.

Why:  I was introduced to the writings of Mr. Grizzard in 8th grade by my English teacher, Mr. Gosdin.  I haven't read any of his books since graduate school, so finding this treasure for little of nothing was a real treat.

Rating (on a scale of 1-4 hashtags):  # # # #

What it's about:  Everything.  In this collection of columns from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Mr. Grizzard hilariously tackles everything from the economy to sports.  This was written in the early 90's, but it reads like Grizzard is alive and tackling these issues right now.

What I Like:

Portions of the book literally had me laughing aloud.  Some of the great one liners:

• On the subject of mooning:  "Incidentally, who else my friend from high school mooned included the chief of police, a Greyhound bus filled with passengers, and a monthly meeting of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  He grew up to be an astronaut."
• On sweet cornbread:  "If you want something sweet, order the pound cake.  Anybody who puts sugar in the cornbread is a heathen who doesn't love the Lord, not to mention Southeastern Conference football."
• On health food fads:  "Any day I expected to see a commercial that said, 'Tide.  The only laundry detergent with oat bran.'"
• On his home state:  "The mating call of the Georgia Peach: 'Lordy, I'm sooooo drunk.'"

This book is not all funnies though.  He expounds on subjects like his mother's illness and death, and the heart condition that he didn't know would claim his life a few years later.  Grizzard has the uncanny ability to go from funny to serious in 10 seconds flat.  His humor is a combination of Rick and Bubba and Jerry Clower.  I liked the book because it reads like sitting on the porch talking and laughing with family.  One does not have to be Southern to find joy in Grizzard's words; but it helps.

What I didn’t like: 

The author does get slightly risqué in parts of the book.  However, it's quite tame compared to what we can see just scrolling through our Twitter feed.

To sum up: My main takeaway from the book was this:

Continue to write, laugh, and love.  Tell the politically correct speech police to go sit on a tater.

Want to join the challenge?  Click the empty shelf photo on the right to learn more.  It's not too late!