Showing results by author "Roy Blount Jr." in All Categories

Most kids write stories. Only a few of them grow up to be successful authors. But before there was Carrie, there was Jhonathan and the Witchs. And before there was Rabbit Angstrom, Toyota Dealer, there was Manuel Cirarro, famous detective. Could we have seen the seeds of success in Stephen King's and John Updike's juvenilia? A funny and surprisingly informative gathering of childhood creations by today's most celebrated writers.

In this exuberant, character-filled saunter though a place he has loved almost his entire life, Roy Blount Jr. writes of a city "like no other place in America, and yet (or therefore) the cradle of American culture". Here we experience it all through his eyes, ears, and taste buds: the architecture, music, romance (yes, sex too), historical characters, and all that glorious food.

In this savory and exuberant travelogue, New Orleans is experienced through the eyes, ears, and taste buds of Roy Blount, Jr. who writes, "The history around here is so thick you could pop it open with an oyster-knife, and oh, the aroma: fresh-ground coffee, yesterday's fish, spilt beer, sloshed Tabasco, hot pastry, patchouli oil...and hints of some fortuitous compound...mule plop and olive salad?"

After 40 years of making a living using words in every medium, print or electronic, Roy Blount Jr. still can't get over his ABCs. In Alphabet Juice, he celebrates the juju, the sonic and kinetic energies of letters and their combinations. Blount does not prescribe proper English. The franchise he claims is "over the counter" and concentrates more on questions such as these: Did you know that both mammal and matter derive from baby talk? Have you noticed how wince makes you wince?