It's hard to imagine today, but there once was a time when the simple written word could send shudders of fear and loathing down the spines of mainstream America. And no one gave Mr and Mrs Front Porch USA the shakes more than Terry Southern. His novel "Candy" was banned and branded as pornography before it even reached our shores; his take on the military in "Doc Strangelove" earned him the label "pinko." But, like all great satirists (which he certainly was) know, "telling it like it is" often times means "taking your lumps like a man." And Terry took plenty of lumps, and humps, but never let his trials and tribs get in the way of "making it hot" for people. Although the mighty lions of 60's pop culture are now - alas! - all nearly gone, this volume of previously unseen TS works serves as an excellent reminder of a time when humor meant more than just being funny, and words alone had the power to give people the coniptions. And as "Now Dig This!" reminds us, while Southern took on all comers and suffered no fool gladly, he was a gentle giant who did so whilst nudging us playfully in the ribs - not poking us in the eye. "Now Dig This!" is a great addition to any modern humor library, and a worthy addition to the Southern canon. Bravo.

In these heartless consumerist times, irony has become debased. Thus the arrival of this anthology of previously uncollected and unpublished work by Terry Southern is not only a delightful surprise, but profoundly neccesary. Just as his 1967 anthology, Red Dirt Marijuana, proved that Southern was not just the great black humorist of the post-WWII era, but a great short story writer and essayist, so does Now Dig This affirm that status. No one has ever managed to quite duplicate Southern's mastery of so many forms: the letter as put-on, gonzo journalism, literary criticism, screenwriting and short fiction. Southern fans will be delighted at the inclusion of "Heavy Put-Away", a superb essay on Kurt Weill, and reminscences of Stanley Kubrick and Frank O'Hara. For first time readers, I have only envy. Now Dig This will be your all expenses paid ticket to a world of darkness and laughter. To paraphrase Ringo Starr, who acted in adaptations of two Southern novels, Candy and The Magic Christian, Buy a Terry Southern book today. Now Dig This is a very, very good place to start your spending spree.

Hard core Terry Southern fans and first time readers alike will find much to enjoy in Now Dig This. This anthology is a wonderful distillation of uncollected and unpublished work spanning the buttoned down cool of the fifties to the post-Reagan and Bush nineties. Now Dig This offers readers a chance to rediscover Terry Southern in his many guises: as a great short story writer, master of the zany epistle, screenwriter par excellence, raconteur (his memories of working on Dr. Strangelove and staging pranks with Frank O'Hara are worth the cover price alone), critic, journalist (doing Gonzo before everyone else), and all around grand guy. For those who have become numbed out by the coopted irony of our consumerist present, it is refreshing and inspiring to back to the source. To paraphase Ringo Starr, buy a Terry Southern book today.

The Friedman brothers are without a doubt two of the most brilliant satirists alive. Warts and All contains capsule biographies of a variety of obscure individuals and bygone celebrities. There are odd juxtapositions of serial killers and celebrities. The artwork (meticulously crafted with rapidograph) is excellent. Warts and All is dark, very dark comedy. It is not for everyone. However, if the reader is familiar with the references, one can appreciate what a virtuoso work this is. Highly recommended for the twisted lay person.

Aside from the covertly racist remarks, Tales of Times Square is a fun chronicle of the recent history of the classic red-light district that was as part of Americana as mom and apple pie. With stark detail, down to the exact addresses of various brothels, porn houses and other wild joints; it feels as if a walk down the old Forty Deuce and Eighth Avenue is taking place as the pages go by. A natural born writer, Friedman's eye for detail is amazing and he delivers the goods.

During its height of splendid glory it was a neighborhood that fostered more orgasms than any other making it somewhat depressing that this cultural relic known as Times Square has now been hijacked by Disney, the big developers and large corporations. Friedman does a quality job in touching on the underlying politico-economic realities responsible for the destruction of one of the last places that refused to be gentrified.

With a keen eye for the hilariously absurd and the interesting denizens populating the Square from roughly the mid 60s to the mid 80s, Friedman offers up funny and enthralling stories involving strippers, johns, swing clubbers, prostitutes, shoeshines, religious folks, kiosk workers, pornstars and others. One startling fact broached is that in the 1970s during a typical summer night it wasn't unusual to see a thousand old school style hookers plying their trade along Eighth Avenue. Today it's scarcely possible to imagine given the plethora of cops occupying America's cities.

Certainly the most indelible section of Tales of Times Square has to be the description of the famous -- or infamous depending on a person's predilections -- east coast swing club Plato's Retreat. The wild shenanigans documented are simply unbelievable. These chapters are worth the price of the book alone, although some may feel a shower's in order after reading some of this stuff.

The last bastion of a truly honky-tonk atmosphere is over. As Friedman points out it's time to make way for Mickey and Minnie Mouse. In an age of sterile corporate strip malls, Tales of Times Square is a reminder that in at least one neighborhood things used to be quite different.

This may very well be the best book on Times Square,so far ( compared to Samuel Delany's "Times Square Red, Times Square Blue" and Bill Landis & Michelle Clifford's "Sleazoid Express").Josh Alan Friedman reads like a cross between Damon Runyan, and Studs Terkel, with a big dose of Jimmy Breslin vocabulary. He definitely tells it like it was, from the early history of vaudeville, to burlesque, to porno grinders, Plato's Retreat, and live sex shows. And, he heralds its demise, even in the early 80's. His character sketches are priceless! It's funny, erotic, dirty, and, at times, downright repugnant, a veritable Dantesque tour of sleaze. Welcome to the Forty Duece,suckers!

There will never be another place on earth like Times Square during the heighth of its sleaze days. Friedman captures it perfectly and in this wonderful book. It seems incredible that anyone would ever want to revel in nostolgia for the old "Forty Deuce" (West 42nd Street), but now that the XXX theaters, massage parlors, pimps and hookers have been driven out, their absence can be strongly felt, leaving a gap filled today only by a Disney-dominated corporate sanitation job. If you remember the "Times Scare" of yesteryear, and maybe even miss it little bit, then this book is a must.

Continuing with the exploration of culture, this is another jewel in the Feral House crown. There are only a few interviews, and they are rather outdated. Nonetheless, if you're a collector, this should be an invaluable reference. Lots and lots of reproductions of covers and some interior illustrations. Also, there is a small guide/checklist at the end to get you started.