cover image Jumbo Shrimp Other Pa

Jumbo Shrimp Other Pa

Warren S. Blumenfeld. Perigee Books, $4.95 (96pp) ISBN 978-0-399-51306-0

In chatty style, Blumenfeld, a Georgia State professor, discusses oxymorons, which he defines as ""contradictory expressions that make absolute sense.'' Many of his examples are obvious winners: ``corporate family,'' ``initial deadline,'' ``school lunch'' and ``downtown Los Angeles.'' But many are simply rare, bad usage of language or weak oxymorons, such as ``always occasionally,'' ``smile out loud,'' ``wildly silent,'' ``Little League.'' Also, his prose is often mired in the painfully cute (``We once had a poorest-handwriting contest at the office. I came in first, secondand tied for third''). The disappointing chapter on geographic oxymorons is essentially a listing of towns, such as ``Atlanta, Texas,'' ``Manila, Utah,'' and ``New England, North Dakota.'' While Jumbo Shrimp occasionally has entertaining moments, all in all Blumenfeld threatens to create a new oxymoron: humor book. (November)