Remember the era of “Real men don’t eat quiche?”  Entertainer Jim Belushi pushes everyone’s buttons with REAL MEN DON’T APOLOGIZE. He riffs on all the standard themes, including seduction (“Call the smart ones pretty and the pretty ones smart.”), a quiz to see if you are ready to get married, and “Jim’s List of Critical Things About Men That Can’t be Found in Woody Allen Movies.”

Candidate for Texas governor, Kinky Friedman serves up COWBOY LOGIC: THE WIT AND WISDOM OF KINKY FRIEDMAN (AND SOME OF HIS FRIENDS.) Friedman stomps in where others fear the political correctness police. His book of pithy one-liners and cartoons includes chapters on Things You Would Never Hear a Real Texan Say: “He’d never say…Duct tape won’t fix that.”  or in Treasures of Childhood: “Imagination is the money of childhood.” Or in All Politics is Yokel: “A fool and his money are soon elected.”

Speaking of politics, author and radio host Michael Savage corrals THE POLITICAL ZOO with forty nine specimens from Kofi Anna “scandalon aspus” to Ted Turner “mouthus desouthus.” In between, he catches and classifies entertainers and politicos of all stripes with illustrations reminiscent of early 20th century caricatures. Savage’s degrees in medical botany and anthropology may have inspired his take on the antics of the creatures we see and hear about in the news.

Edward Abbey (1927-1989) is known as the author of Desert Solitaire & the novel Monkey Wrench Gang.  POSTCARDS FROM ED: DISPATCHES AND SALVOS FROM AN AMERICAN ICONOCLAST re-creates the sardonic character of Abbey by compiling forty years of his correspondence, starting when he left home in Pennsylvania in 1949. In many ways ahead of his time, this environmentalist observed life with a sharp wit and insisted upon being a representative of nothing but himself. In a 1982 letter to The Nation, Abbey cops to his personality as discussed in a review of his book, but wonders if the reviewer forgot to talk about the book. Apparently never swayed from his strong moral compass, Abbey used humor to re-assert his unmistakable views. Pictures include his gravestone with the epitaph “No Comment.” It is in an undisclosed location.

More familiar to us all is Bob Newhart whose first book I SHOULDN’T EVEN BE DOING THIS!: AND OTHER THINGS THAT STRIKE ME AS FUNNY tells anecdotes from his days as a bored accountant to life as a ground-breaking comedian. Full of his unique humor, the book has no revelations, but includes a bunch of his best-loved routines. Understated, all the way.