Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 23, 1994 TAG: 9401180119
SECTION: HORIZON PAGE: D-4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Reviewed by KENNETH LOCKE
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Let's face it friends, Lewis Grizzard is not a happy man. In fact, he is somewhere between unhappy and downright sorrowful. I don't know why. I mean, if I were a nationally syndicated funny guy, with a steady job writing wry and humorous observations about life for an Atlanta newspaper, and had been on "The Tonight Show," and had a legion of devoted fans, and a black lab named Catfish, and had written books with such great titles as "Chili Dawgs Always Bark at Night" and "Shoot Low, Boys, They're Ridin' Shetland Ponies," and were known in every bar within 50 miles of Atlanta, I think I would at least be content.
But Lewis is not. Maybe it has something to do with his teeth.
That is where Grizzard's newest book of wry humor starts; with his bad teeth, a trip to Moscow during its Evil Empire days, his stepbrother Ludlow Porch, and an opportunity to sing "Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine" on television. This may sound like the premise for a redneck version of "Wayne's World" but cross my heart and hope to die if it is not what sets events in motion for one of the south's more infamous open heart surgeries.
How these goshawfull items set the heart surgery into motion you will have to read the book to find out. And trust me, you will want to read this book. Grizzard is not just funny, the man is FUNNY. Ok, so he is kind of warped, bigoted, mean, and not the kind of guy you would want to spend time with in an airport bar, but he is FUNNY.
His humor is the type that sets itself up slowly and then ambushes you suddenly. Before you know it you are rolling on the floor in tears, your dog is licking your nose thinking that you either want to play or are having a heart attack, and your spouse is standing at the door, keys jingling, asking if you are finally ready to go to church or what.
And along with being humored you will learn something about Grizzard's heart; how during a routine operation it simply stopped ticking for about three days; about the narcotic induced dreams he had during that time; how he felt while being scrubbed, shaved, wiped, poked, prodded and inserted during his recovery; and how he now feels about standing on the far side of 40 with the knowledge that he is mortal after all.
The serious side of all this trauma is faced squarely but is never allowed to drag down Grizzard's efforts to make comedy out of the lemons life has handed him. Go buy this book, lock yourself in the bathroom, and have a couple of hours of great laughs.
- Kenneth Locke is a Radford pastor.
by CNB