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The 1950s were simple times to grow up. For Lewis Grizzard and his buddies, gallievanting meant hanging out at the local store, eating Zagnut candy bars and drinking "Big Orange bellywashers." About the worst thing a kid ever did was smoke rabbit tobacco rolled in paper torn from a brown grocery sack, or maybe slick back his hair in a ducktail and try gyrating his hips like Elvis.

Even as late as 1962, the world still made sense. Grizzard was 16, had his driver's license and a blonde girlfriend. Elvis was still singing, Kennedy was still president, Sandy Koufax was still pitching, John Wayne was still acting. Arnold Palmer was still winning golf tournaments, and restaurants still served hand cut french fries.

But suddenly everything seemed to change. Assassinations, war, free love, and drugs rocked the old order. And as they did, Grizzard frequently felt lost and confused. In places of Elvis, the Pied Piper of his generation, Grizzard now found wormy-looking, long-haired English kids who performed either half-naked or dressed like Zasu Pitts. "And I thought Janis Joplin was Missouri's entry in the Miss America Pageant," says Grizzard.

Even country music changed. Willie Nelson first challenged his fans by growing a beard, but then pushed them to the edge by wearing an earring. And sex became more prevalent in country music then twin-fiddle intros. Grizzard felt trapped between two generations. "Although I live in a new world, I was reared to live in an old one." The confusion has continued into the eighties.

Elvis is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself is the witty, nostalgic account of Grizzard's attempt to survive in a changing world. Sex, music, clothes, entertainment everything receives the Grizzard treatment. In this, his sixth book, Grizzard has never been funnier or more in tune with his readers. He may not feel so good himself, but his social commentary and humor make the rest of us feel just fine.