Auntie's Full Shelf Challenge 10

Book: The Grizzard Sampler.

Author: Lewis Grizzard

Info: Copyright 1994: Atlanta GA:  Peachtree Publishers

Where acquired: Checked out of public library.

Why:  I'm a fan of Grizzard's writings and this happens to be the only one of his books at Jacksonville Public Library.  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Rating (on a scale of 1-4 hashtags): # # # # 
  
What it's about:  After Grizzard's death in 1994, Peachtree Publishers put together a compilation of entries from the series of books published under their name.  These entries take on subjects all over the road.  From politics to blue jeans, dogs to beer joins, Grizzard covers it all.

Favorite Quotes: 

On T-ball:  "A grown man who would argue with an umpire at a baseball game involving toddlers is a sick man." - p. 16

On church fans:  "But there were other uses for church fans besides fanning away the Devil and the dog-day heat.  You could swat away noisy children and flies with church fans." - p. 68

"The first cheerleader to catch my eye during my freshman year of high school was a dazzling fourteen-year-old redhead from a well-to-do Newnan family.  She whirled with the best of them, and she did seem to show some spark of interest when I hit her with my classic opening line, 'Do you think professional wrestling is fake?'" - p. 157

"My grandmother was a snuff user.  She used to send me to the store to buy her 'medicine,' as she called it.  Then she would sit for hours with her Bible in her lap and a dip behind her lip.  I knew it wasn't medicine.  If it had been, no one would have kept it in their mouth that long." - p. 204

"I don't like pampered children, and I don't like papered dogs. I want a dog with character and personality; one who had to turn over a trash can once in a while just to keep food in his stomach.  And I like a dog who knows enough about where puppies come from that he can choose his own mate and take care of business without waiting for some high-hatted human to 'arrange' a canine tete-a-tete for him." p. 208


What I Liked:

• The humor, of course.  Like The Rick and Bubba Show, Grizzard's humor is akin to sitting on the porch with family telling stories. The humor is down home Southern, and I like it.  I found myself frequently laughing out loud.
• This "best of" format gives a good sampling from some of Grizzard's best work.

What I didn’t like: 

• Some of the material did not include the points of reference included in the complete work drawn from, so some passages made no sense.
• Of course, I do not agree with some of the author's opinions, but as I've said before, the day I start agreeing with everything someone says, I'm in trouble because I've stopped thinking for myself.

To sum up:  For someone who's never read Grizzard's work, this sampler is a good place to start.  For the avid fan, this book is a reminder of what kindled the fandom.  I read most of the works sampled in this collection almost 20 years ago.  Now, I'm ready to reread them and belly laugh all over again.