STET, Damnit! The Misanthrope's Corner, 1991 to 2002

I lament the fact that I first discovered Florence King only through a happenstance reading of her 2016 obituary. I had not been familiar with her work before that time, and perhaps with little wonder: the reclusive “Failed Southern Lady” with the dagger-like wit had written most of her essays, reviews, books, and columns in the period between 1985 and a “premature retirement” in 2002.In 1985 I was graduating high-school and moving on to higher education, etc., so amid the vicissitudes of life and becoming an adult, I tended to miss the “hotspots” in which Florence plied her trade most frequently over the ensuing years. Moreover, I was not (during that time period) much inclined to peruse the pages of National Review, where she settled for her longest regular stint as a contributing writer.I am thrilled to report that Miss King is a now treasure-chest whose medallions of minsanthropy and whose baubles of literary genius I am now beginning to hoard like a sneering, satisfied dragon.The obituary I read in 2016 contained a link to one of the articles Miss King had written for National Review or some other mag. She sound like one heck of an interesting character from her death-notice alone, so I followed the link, read the column in question, and was hooked by the moment I had slapped my knee for the third time in devilish laughter and kindred agreement with her words.STET, Damnit! is the full and unabridged collection of Miss King’s ‘Misanthrope’s Corner’ columns for National Review magazine from 1991-2002, and while her essays do indeed cover political and cultural terrain that have been consigned to “yesterday’s news,” the most amazing thing one discovers is just how much our American “history” repeats itself and chases its tail, over and over again, in the span of 30 years. Or 15. Or 10. Without us knowing it, apparently. King is like a seer with her stiletto-sharp insight into what makes Americans of all persuasions and affiliations both amazing and ridiculous. She is also very much a prophet in terms of what she predicts about our ultimate fate, which is already coming to pass.Best of all, King is seethingly funny. That cleverness is matched by her impeccability as a writer and as an engaging storyteller. The woman knew she was brilliant, but that self-awareness never led her to write a dishonest or pretentious or smug or unnecessary word, even as she tore the zeitgeist to shreds and chopped it up into pieces of confetti, gleefully letting it descend on so many Republicans AND Democrats (and others) who were already hoisted on their own petards.She was the kind of lady you’d want to have a beer with, which I why I rue the fact that I did not find her sooner. I would’ve written her a letter of homage, and asked her out for a drink or five.As it is, I have been in the process of collecting and reading all of her many and varied works; each one is a rip-roaring feast for the brain. Again, even though these collected columns date from 1991-2002, they nevertheless give a play-by-play account of recent American history, and are FULL of insights, ideas, wise historical references, and observations about the human condition that ought to be mandatory reading for anyone who wonders how in the world we even made it to 2018.Florence, I’ve ditched Camille Paglia and have hitched my wagon permanently to your codex. Thank you for finding me ... wherever you are.

I have been a fan of southern writer Florence King for years. From the time I was a graduate student studying “lost” writers at the request of a rather misguided professor, I realized that this lady was anything but “lost.” Her acerbic humor hits home every time and her word-smithery is peerless.King was primarily a non-fiction writer of essays about sexuality, politics, human behavior and modern American experiences from traveling to consumerism. If you are southern, love the South, or are just curious about the South, then any of her books are great. She characterizes every kind of southerner from the good old boy to the carpet bagger and from the belle to the dear old thing.This text is a collection of her editorials from the National Review from 1992-2002. For a time she had her own column called The Misanthrope’s Corner. This material is from that time in her life just before she retired from writing. If you think that it is impossible to be a feminist, right wing gun-toting, rabble-rousing southern spinster, then hang onto your hat, this lady will give you an outrageous ride. I only wish she were still with us. Her talent is unmatched and wickedly witty. There will never be another like Miss King.

Her acerbic wit is always so refreshing, tho at times disturbing, as she goes for the jugular. Yea, Florence !

Florence King is one tough broad: a meat eating, heat packing, bisexual Republican who has NO patience for whiners, slackers,huggies, fuzzy wuzzies, or anyone even remotely PC. But this stiletto sharp Southern gal can also laugh at herself and she'll make you laugh until you're breathless. George W haters will be thrilled to know she hates the sight of him. Nor does she align herself with anti-intellectual cornpone GOPS. She calls herself Conservative, but a woman who spurns (and hates) marriage and motherhood is radical in my book. She's the perfect antidote to a sea of mushy self-esteem/body image/self-help/Chicken Soup for the Soul BS. I don't agree with everything she says, but she gives me a helluva intellectual workout. You go,girl!

This is a must have for fans of Florence King. She is the closest thing we have nowadays to H.L. Mencken. These are short columns she wrote for National Review over several years, called "Misanthrope"s Corner." She is really not misanthropic, but rather one who hates cant and does not suffer fools gladly. They all have King's characteristic sharp wit and ability to turn a phrase. Ms. King is an agnostic, but she has an almost Calvinistic sense of the fallenness of human nature. There is a cool realism and acceptance of things as they really are. Do-gooders and uplifters get short shrift in her writing. She shares H.L. Mencken's amusement at the absurdities of modern life and the colorful characters American society comes up with. She also shares Mencken's individualism and refusal to bend to authority. A few before bedtime should help you go to sleep with a smile on your face.

There are a few good essays in this collection. If you like Florence King in small doses, do not assume that reading a large dose of her writings will be proportionately pleasurable. After wading through this book, I began to see Ms. King's methodology, and ultimately concluded that she is not a brilliant or funny as I had assumed from reading her magazine essays. Her methodology is this: we are given to know that she is a curmudgeon, and that we should expect her to say anything she likes, and what she likes is to suggest that she is really smart and just about every she writes about (it might be the whole of society) is really dumb, crass, or otherwise wanting.

Great read. Acerbic wit. Shame she was a republican.