Fresh-squeezed Lexicology, with TwistsNo man of letters savors the ABC’s, or serves them up, like language-loving humorist Roy Blount Jr. His glossary, from ad hominy to zizz, is hearty, full bodied, and out to please discriminating palates coarse and fine. In 2008, he celebrated the gists, tangs, and energies of letters and their combinations in Alphabet Juice, to wide acclaim. Now, Alphabetter Juice. Which is better.This book is for anyone—novice wordsmith, sensuous reader, or career grammarian—who loves to get physical with words. What is the universal sign of disgust, ew, doing in beautiful and cutie? Why is toadless, but not frogless, in the Oxford English Dictionary? How can the U. S. Supreme Court find relevance in gollywoddles? Might there be scientific evidence for the sonicky value of hunch? And why would someone not bother to spell correctly the very word he is trying to define on Urbandictionary.com?Digging into how locutions evolve, and work, or fail, Blount draws upon everything from The Tempest to The Wire. He takes us to Iceland, for salmon-watching with a “girl gillie,” and to Georgian England, where a distinguished etymologist bites off more of a “giantess” than he can chew. Jimmy Stewart appears, in connection with kludge and the bombing of Switzerland. Litigation over supercalifragilisticexpialidocious leads to a vintage werewolf movie; news of possum-tossing, to metanarrative.As Michael Dirda wrote in The Washington Post Book World, “The immensely likeable Blount clearly possesses what was called in the Italian Renaissance ‘sprezzatura,’ that rare and enviable ability to do even the most difficult things without breaking a sweat.” Alphabetter Juice is brimming with sprezzatura. Have a taste.

Ali G: How many words does you know?Noam Chomsky: Normally, humans, by maturity, have tens of thousands of them.Ali G: What is some of 'em?—Da Ali G Show Did you know that both mammal and matter derive from baby talk? Have you noticed how wince makes you wince? Ever wonder why so many h-words have to do with breath? Roy Blount Jr. certainly has, and after forty years of making a living using words in every medium, print or electronic, except greeting cards, he still can’t get over his ABCs. In Alphabet Juice, he celebrates the electricity, 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.” Three and a half centuries ago, Thomas Blount produced Blount’s Glossographia, the first dictionary to explore derivations of English words. This Blount’s Glossographia takes that pursuit to other levels, from Proto-Indo-European roots to your epiglottis. It rejects the standard linguistic notion that the connection between words and their meanings is “arbitrary.” Even the word arbitrary is shown to be no more arbitrary, at its root, than go-to guy or crackerjack. From sources as venerable as the OED (in which Blount finds an inconsistency, at whisk) and as fresh as Urbandictionary.com (to which Blount has contributed the number-one definition of alligator arm), and especially from the author’s own wide-ranging experience, Alphabet Juice derives an organic take on language that is unlike, and more fun than, any other.

'Hard-working humorist Roy Blount Jr. lives in the North but he's from the South, a delicious tension that has always informed and shaped his work. In this new collection, he directs his acerbic wit and finely-tuned insight toward the persistent and colorful differences between the two. His essays treat every conceivable topic on which North and South misunderstand each other, from music to sports, eating, education, politics, child-rearing, religion, race, and language ('remember when there was lots of discussion of 'ebonics'?'). In this eminently quotable collection, Blount does justice to the charming, funny, infuriating facets of Southern tradition and their equally odd Northern counterpoints' -- from publisher's web-site.A selection of essays by the popular humorist reassesses the diverse conflicts between the North and the South, ranging from musical taste, religion, and eating habits to theories of education, sports, politics, child-rearing, and race.

A portrait of the Civil War leader delves into his family history and personality to reveal the human behind the general, documenting how the lessons he learned from his elders were applied on the battlefield. Reprint. 35,000 first printing.

The author presents eight rambles through different sections of New Orleans, discovering the music, architecture, food, and colorful characters, past and present, that exemplify the city.

The humorist author of First Hubby offers a lighthearted odyssey on foot through one of America's most colorful and historic cities, presenting eight exuberant rambles through different sections of New Orleans, discovering the music, architecture, food, and colorful characters, past and present, that exemplify the city. 40,000 first printing.

An endearing collection of sixty duotone photographs, accompanied by clever and insightful verse, indelibly depicts the inner souls of puppies in all their soulfulness, hilarity, and charm. Reprint.

The authors of I Am Puppy, Hear Me Yap do it again with their latest irresistible collection of 57 adorable, never-before-published portraits of cats, accompanied by brilliantly funny verse that captures every aspect of the elusive feline essence.

Includes the quiz material featured on NPR's weekly quiz show, testing readers' knowledge about everything from animals to criminals. (view table of contents)

A delightful combination of lively photographs and amusing verse provides a rollicking glimpse into the innermost thoughts of barnyard animals, from relationships and food-chain issues to why people want to come up to cows and go 'moo.' By the authors of I Am Puppy, Hear Me Yap!. 50,000 first printing.