Going to Vanderbilt did a lot of things for me, and one of the things it cured me of was the need to follow college football.

People may think of Southern humor in terms of missing teeth and outhouse accidents, but the best of it is a rich vein running through the best of Southern literature.

When I was a little kid, of course, I was brown all summer. That's because I was free as a bird- nothing to do but catch bugs all day.

A good heavy book holds you down. It's an anchor that keeps you from getting up and having another gin and tonic.

Pete Rose is too rich a character to fit on a bronze plaque. He requires a good, trenchant, poignant (ah, Petey) book, and this is it.

Ham's substantial, ham is fat. Ham is firm and sound. Ham's what God was getting at When He made pigs so round.

I always wanted to win the Super Bowl so I could take it and hold it and see what lies beyond it. I think it may be the sun.