Lies and Other Truths : Rants, Raves, Low-Lifes and Highballs

With a healthy but not slavish attention to veracity, a popular southern humorist casts an evil eye on the New Millennium South in this entertaining collection of essays that "acts rurally but swears globally." Topics range from the blues and the electricity of Muddy Waters, to the fate of the Cypress Garden mermaids, to the inventor of sweatRichard M. Nixon. Dees takes us through the southern seasons and the majesty of deer at dawn, the true meaning of homegrown tomatoes, how to ruin a perfectly good fishing hole, and the fragile physics of gin and tonic. Essays titled "My Dog Can Mix Drinks," "Elvis in the Afternoon," "High and Inside: A TV Season with the Cubs," "I Am the Love Child of James Brown," and "Pulp Fishin'" offer a fresh perspective on life in and around Oxford, Mississippi.

Jim Dees is the host of Thacker Mountain Radio, a weekly music and literature show on Mississippi Public Broadcasting. He is the editor of They Write Among Us, an anthology of southern essays and fiction. He writes a weekly humor column for the Oxford Town and contributes to numerous publications, including Paste and Spin. He lives Oxford, Mississippi.