The Dog of the South | Charles Portis

Charles Portis is best known as the author of True Grit — the sly western that became a John Wayne classic — but among writers, readers, and assorted Southern lunatics, he’s something of a cult hero. Often called our greatest unknown comic writer, Portis avoids the broad skewer for finely-sketched comic despair, and The Dog of the South is a character-driven delight. The plot — what there is of it — follows Ray Midge on a shambling quest to recover his Ford Torino and his estranged wife Norma. Midge falls in with the scheming head case Dr. Reo Symes, and together they head south of the border in search of their quarry. Odd, understated, and drily hilarious. Get a hold of Ray Midge, Dr. Reo Symes, and The Dog of the South, and you’ll see why Ray Blount Jr. said of this novel, “No one should die without reading it.”

Live and Well, Dolly Parton

Riding a wave of critical and commercial success, Dolly has a right to feel right nice these days, and this double CD catches her in full cackling delight. The discs are full of great tunes — “The Grass is Blue,” “I’m Gone,” the incomparable “Jolene” — and the between-song patter is pure sass-n-cornpone. (If sass-n-cornpone built you an empire the size of Dolly’s, you wouldn’t stray too far either.) There are other live discs in Dolly’s catalog, but this is the first since her bluegrass-based revival of the late 90s. Give it a spin and you’ll see that Parton is live and well indeed. (Also available on DVD.)

“Cigarettes and Coffee,” Otis Redding

Young turks who think they invented the late-night cigarettes-and-coffee diet would do well to give a spin to this forgotten Otis classic, as fine a paean to 3 a.m. as has ever been written. It never got the props reserved for his biggest singles, but for my money it’s one of Redding’s best. I don’t see 3 a.m. much anymore, and I never did like cigarettes, but I still like coffee, and I’ve always loved this song.

Electoral-vote.com

I’m not an election junkie, but I’ve got more than a rooting interest in this year’s presidential race. (Don’t we all?) Not content with rambling weekly updates or national tracking polls, I’ve been a regular on this website for a solid month now. Updated religiously, the Votemaster breaks down the polls state-by-state to offer a daily snapshot of the only race that matters: the race for electoral votes. Go big blue!

Naps

Go ahead. Take a nap. Yeah, you. Yeah, now. You deserve one.

— Jay Hardwig