Books by Bob Smith

In his award-winning first book, Bob Smith offered up a witty dose of nineties reality with his observations as a happily adjusted gay man. Now, after breaking up with his longtime boyfriend, Smith looks back to his painfully normal childhood to see where all the trouble really began. Like every other American kid, Bob's adolescence was marked by alternating moments of blissful ignorance, hazy confusion, and humiliating self-consciousness. And in these pages, Bob evokes his youth with a vividness that will make you shudder and howl with recognition.In these hysterically humorous pages, Bob Smith introduces readers to his comically unsympathetic grandmother, who makes light of his carsickness: "Bob only throws up because he's near the window and he can"; to his first teacher crush, whose "five-o'clock shadow could plunge a room into darkness"; and to his first brush with fame, when he fainted from his chair during a biology filmstrip ("Way to go, Smith!"). Sharp, observant, ingeniously ironic and wholly satisfying, this new Lambda Award-nominated collection is at once bittersweet nostalgic fun and a testament to the unquestionable gifts of a highly original comic writer.

UNDER ATTACK It began as a gentle breeze nothing more than a friendly Happy Holiday instead of Merry Christmas which, it was said, might offend a non-Christian. Soon the soft breeze became a flurry of potential words which could be offensive Racist, sexist, homophobic. Our vocabulary, we noticed, was being sharply censored by well meaning media folks, who saw themselves as political correction watchdogs. In our busy, everyday lives, we went along with Happy Holidays, but thought little of the approaching cultural storm, now known simply as PC. All around us, is evidence of this challenge to the very core of Americanism. PC is invading our religion, our speech, our flag, our history and, yes, our way of life. All are under attack. Athletes refusing to stand for our national anthem, prayers not allowed in public schools, Black lives matter (strangely, it does not mean Black lives ALSO matter) The storm seems to be growing day by day. What are we to do about it? PC can be defeated. We can save our traditional values. Read on my friend.