Now, Where Were We?

by Roy Blount Jr.

The funniest, sanest man in America--often quoted in Newsweek and Time--is back with a new collection of pieces. Author scheduled to appear on The Tonight Show and other national shows.

Genres: Humor, Essays

252 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25, 1989

About the author

Roy Blount Jr. is the author of twenty-three books. The first, About Three Bricks Shy of a Load, was expanded into About Three Bricks Shy . . . and the Load Filled Up. It is often called one of the best sports books of all time. His subsequent works have taken on a range of subjects, from Duck Soup, to Robert E. Lee, to what cats are thinking, to how to savor New Orleans, to what it’s like being married to the first woman president of the United States.

Blount is a panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait . . . Don’t Tell Me!, an ex-president of the Authors Guild, a usage consultant for the American Heritage Dictionary, a New York Public Library Literary Lion, and a member of both the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the band the Rock Bottom Remainders.

In 2009, Blount received the University of North Carolina’s Thomas Wolfe Prize. The university cited “his voracious appetite for the way words sound and for what they really mean.” Time places Blount “in the tradition of the great curmudgeons like H. L. Mencken and W. C. Fields.” Norman Mailer has said, “Page for page, Roy Blount is as funny as anyone I’ve read in a long time.” Garrison Keillor told the Paris Review, “Blount is the best. He can be literate, uncouth, and soulful all in one sentence.”

Blount’s essays, articles, stories, and verses have appeared in over one hundred and fifty publications, including the New Yorker, the New York Times, Esquire, the Atlantic, Sports Illustrated, the Oxford American, and Garden & Gun. He comes from Decatur, Georgia, and lives in western Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Denny · Rating 3 out of 5]

A timeless and enjoyable collection of funny, relevant essays covering just about everything from fashion to city life to dining out to politics and country life and... Well, there's little about the American experience from the mid 1970s through the late 1980s that Blount doesn't take to task here. Though they're dated, the themes are universal and would still apply to today's issues with only the names of some of the subjects changed. I'm fortunate to have found a gently-used 1st edition for next to nothing at McKay's Used Books. Money well spent!

[Stuart Lutzenhiser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have heard him frequently on "Wait, Wait, don't tell me". So, I was curious what his writing was like. Funny, well written, but this edition is fairly dated mostly dating from the 80s. So, a few essays about Reagan and other issues at the time. As someone who lived through that time, I could understand and appreciate the references. But to a younger person, I think they might be a little at sea.

[Marilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some clever phrases, but somehow misses the mark.

[Artie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of his old magazine articles. Nice light fare, some of it made me laugh out loud.

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried to get into this book but just could not. It is suppose to be funny. Written in 1988.

[William Orr · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy, this boy can write! Some of the cultural references are from the 1980s, and not every chapter works, but there are plenty of laughs to justify the read.