cover image Now, Where Were We?

Now, Where Were We?

Roy Blount, jr.. Villard Books, $17.95 (252pp) ISBN 978-0-394-57419-6

Reprinted from periodicals as diverse as TV Guide , Penthouse and the New York Times, these essays, poems, etc. stamp Blount ( Crackers ) as very much in the mainstream of American humor: his humor is not in the wild and broad tradition of, say, Paul Bunyan, but in a modern vein, consisting of a more restrained and contained hyperbole. He tackles such problems as whether Southerners (among others) eat dirt, why consuming roast chicken skin promotes wellness (not health, if you please) and why the U.S. should have a National Sodomy Day, a holiday which should most definitely be celebrated by his native state of Georgia. There are also ruminations on golf, whiskey, Ronald Reagan, TV, pets and learning Italian. It's all extremely entertaining. (Mar.)