Lump It or Leave It

Book excerpt: Lump It or Leave It, Florence King's latest volume of rapier-edged contemplations on American tomfoolery--er, values--takes on everything from the hazards of fame to the joys of menopause, with all of the bile and brio that has made her the nation's most beloved misanthrope. From college professors ("incapable of earning a living with either their minds or their hands") to the South ("if at first you don't secede, try, try, again") to the U.S. government ("the crude leading the crud"), few fools remain unskewered by the reigning Queen of Spleen.