James W. Hall is the critically acclaimed author of eleven crime novels, including Body Language and Blackwater Sound. He's also published four books of poetry. And, several of his short stories have appeared in magazines like the Georgia Review and Kenyon Review. Now, writing in the spirit of Dave Barry and Garrison Keillor, Hall wins a new kind of reader with this collection of essays that run from insightful to opinionated, funny to wise. Hall ponders subjects as diverse as his own love affair with Florida, which began on a trip after college from which he never returned, to his equally passionate romance with books. He ponders the nature of summer heat, the writing of Hemingway and James Dickey, television, teaching, politics, fatherhood and much more. In the vibrant and elegant prose, which characterize his fiction and poetry, Hall now proves himself a master of the essay as well.
"His new collection of 40 brisk, witty essays proves that poet and crime novelist James W. Hall (Blackwater Sound) is one of the region's biggest and most thoughtful boosters."
Publishers Weekly
"Laid-back and quite competent ... to be enjoyed in the shade with the sound of the surf not far away."
