Dubbed “savagely funny” (The New York Times) and “wickedly entertaining” (San Francisco Chronicle), acclaimed writer Chuck Thompson embarks on a controversial road trip to prove that both sides might be better off if the South were to secede once and for all. Read more…
Praise for Better Off Without ‘Em
“Hilarious, dirty, and incendiary.” — Vanity Fair
“Viciously funny and thoroughly tasteless. Like Matt Taibbi or Bill Maher, Thompson isn’t aiming just to entertain; he wants readers to take his underlying argument seriously.” — The Washington Monthly
“Often thoughtful, always irreverent . . . a raucous road trip through the South with a funny, informed, sardonic, and opinionated Yankee.” — Kirkus Reviews
“GREAT book … Thompson is one wicked good writer and wordsmith.” — Daily Kos
“Hilariously over-the-top . . . Thompson’s mix of vitriol, bewilderment, humor, and research holds the seemingly disparate elements together and makes for an entertaining, if absurdly hyperbolic, read.” — Publishers Weekly
“Awesomely talented and wickedly funny.” — Philadelphia Inquirer
“A fun, engaging read (that) would make for a fine night of beer-fueled argument.” — Wonkette
“A confrontational, extreme–and occasionally convincing–argument for cutting the South loose, peppered with hilarious anecdotes.” —Shelf Awareness
“Thompson doesn’t have a politically correct bone in his Yankee body. He skewers the South mercilessly, and hilariously. And backs up his barbs with facts. Lots of facts.”
— Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss
Reviews for previous work
“Thompson’s weapons are wit, a well-oiled subversive reflex and a defiantly unbuttoned prose style.” —The New York Observer
“Reading Thompson is like listening to a buddy who shoots from the hip.” —Booklist
“Thompson is the equivalent of Joe Satriani or John Coltrane … the literary equivalent of Motorhead … the virtuosity can leave your mouth hanging open.” —Booklocker.com