Myra: 'What would Kinky do?' a great read

I very seldom buy a book anymore, since in my relatively recent efforts at downsizing, books were among the things jettisoned to accommodate a much smaller living space.

However, in a moment of extreme weakness of judgment, considering that no recent inheritance or lottery winnings justified it, I succumbed to a book by one of my favorite authors, Kinky Friedman.

I started reading Kinky Friedman accidently many years ago. At that time, he was living in some kind of garret in New York City. He had certain references he referred to over and over as vehicles for humor in the mystery novels he was writing, lesbian tap dancers rehearsing in the room above him. The other was his pet cat — one he had picked up from the street in Chinatown. Whenever he had a knotty problem to unravel in a plot, he would turn to the cat for advice. Not surprisingly, the cat never answered, but he kept on asking anyway. For some reason, the repetition of these vehicles came across as very funny, so I read as many of his books as I could.

Kinky grew up in Austin, Texas. His father was a professor at the University of Texas, he himself once ran for governor of the state. He created a persona by wearing a black cowboy hat wherever he went and expensive cowboy boots. He always had a huge black cigar in his mouth.

It took me quite awhile to get over watching him blow smoke in Charlie Rose's face as he was being interviewed. I guess Charlie Rose decided it was taking too much away from Kinky's image to ask him not to smoke.

In his latest book, "What would Kinky do?" he insists that an uncle replaced his pacifier with a cigar when he was a infant. So, he says he began smoking at the age of 18 months.

Here are some of his observations about cigar smoking: "Though smoking in general is currently being attacked from all quarters, I strongly believe smoking cigars can yield at least three positive effects: reducing stress, increasing longevity and irritating hall monitors. From time to time, as the situation dictates, I still resort to the pacifier. Truthfully, there's not that much difference between a good cigar and the time honored pacifier.

"Simply to suck on a cigar these days is practically tantamount to making a political statement. Politicians and bureaucrats at all levels of government have failed at resolving the real issues; all they seem to be able to do is tax tobacco and pass ever more stringent smoking regulations."

Some call Kinky Friedman the "new Mark Twain." "What would Kinky Do?" is a narration by an astute observer of contemporary America. It's a wonderful read.

Myra Furse is a columnist for the News Republic. "The Eye of the Beholder" runs each Thursday.