KINKY FRIEDMAN

The hilarious Kinky Friedman puts a new twist on the holiday spirit in his inimitably Kinky way in The Christmas Pig.King Jonjo Mayo the First is in a bind. Every Christmas, he commissions an artist to paint a traditional nativity scene to be dramatically revealed after midnight mass. This year, though, the date is mere weeks away, and he still has not yet found his painter. The king decides to take a chance on a peculiar, mute boy whose artistic genius and clairvoyance are rumored throughout the kingdom. He sends three valiant, if begrudging, knights to seek out the boy in the remote countryside. Finally, they find Benjaminand he is, indeed, peculiar. Nobody knows if the child is up to the task, but the kings Christmas traditionand Benjamin himselfmight just be saved by a Christmas miracle that comes in the form of a very special pig, who is rather peculiar herself.

And Kinky Said Unto the People: Why the Hell Not? So the good people of Texas werent able to get the Kinkster into the Governors Mansion in 2006. It was a solid race, and he fought the good fight. Getting on the ballot as an independent -- a feat that had not been achieved in over a century -- was a victory in itself. And with ideas like "slots for tots" (legalized gambling to pay for education), the five Mexican generals plan (bribes to enforce border protection), and a firm stand against the "wussification" of the state, he would have done a helluva job. If that 2006 election was any indication -- and it was -- the political landscape in both Texas and the country at large needs a significant overhaul. The hucksters, the wealthy, and the twofaced rule; there is no room for Truth, and the little guys are quickly forgotten in all the muck. But Kinky, (briefly) down yet certainly not out, is still looking out for his fellow Americans, and he has much wisdom to impart. In this hilarious, thought-provoking manifesto, Kinky lays forth his ten commandments for improving the state of Texas and politics everywhere, and for restoring order, logic, decency, and above all a sense of humor back to this country. Its classic Kinky in a brand new way. And he might just have a point.

There is only one Kinky Friedman. St. Petersburg Times Raunchy, offbeat, and hilarious, The Mile High Club, complete with a surprise ending, is Kinky at his considerable best.It all starts with a casual flirtation, two people on a flight from Dallas to New York. Shes gorgeous and mysterious; hes a private detective. When the plane lands, the detectiveour hero, Kinkyfinds hes been left holding the bag, literally. The woman, having asked the Kinkster to watch her luggage while she visits the can, has taken a powder and somehow vanished. Mystery Woman does turn up again, but not before Kinky has claimed the interest of an array of suits from the State Department, been party to a thwarted kidnap attempt by Arab terrorists, and found a dead Israeli agent parked on the toilet of his downtown Manhattan loft. Employing the able-bodied assistance of his usual sidekicks, the Village Irregulars, Kinky eventually gets to the bottom of all the comings and goings of the many visitors to his loft, including two late-night visits by the mysterious and suddenly affectionate woman from the plane and one not-so-late-night visit by her angry brother.

This is a collection of three humorous detective stories set in and around the country music scene of Greenwich Village, New York, that feature the author as the detective-hero. Friedman other books include "The Kinky Friedman Crime Club" and "More Kinky Friedman".

Alfred Hitchcocks classic film Rear Window gets an affectionate kick in the butt in this homage from master crime writer, philosopher, and equal-opportunity offender Kinky Friedman. Its a case of malaria versus murder when private dick extraordinaire Kinky Friedman comes down with a tropical disease, in the jungle known as New York City, and is confined to his loft on Vandam Street in lower Manhattan, a prisoner in his own home with only his cat and black puppet head as company (neither of whom are great conversationalists). With little to do but stare out the window in between bedridden bouts of fever and hallucinations, Kinky calls on assistance from the stalwart Village Irregulars, who proceed to dish out their own uniquely skewed brand of tea and sympathy, turning the loft into a virtual Mardi Gras of confusion and drunken debauchery. Suffering almost as much from company overload as from his fever, Kinky welcomes a rare moment of calm as he finds himself once again alone in his loft. Resuming his position at the kitchen window, he spots a pretty young woman in an apartment across the street. What he hopes might be titillating turns terrifying, however, as a man joins the woman and proceeds to attack her. Sure that hes witnessed a crime, Kinky calls in the cops, but, upon investigating his claim, they can find neither a victim nor an apartment across the street. In addition, no one else saw or heard anything that would ndicate a crime had taken place. Was it foul play or merely a fevered dream? Convinced that their friend is about to slip off into the land of eternal slumber, the Village Irregulars increase their vigilance and in the process raise the Kinksters irritability level to an all-time high. Not to be deterred, however, Kinky sticks to his story and is rewarded when a few days later he sees the man in the apartment again, but this time with a gun. Outrageous, audacious, and ingeniously crafted, The Prisoner of Vandam Street is vintage Kinky: irreverent, clever, and full of the hardened philosophy and mordant wit that has earned him a vast and devoted readership. But what more would you expect from the writer The New York Times has called "The worlds funniest, bawdiest, and most politically incorrect country music singer turned mystery writer"?

Kinky Friedman has always proven himself to be a master of the offbeat and irreverent, and still manages to pull off a helluva whodunit in the process. Now the Kinkster may have met his match in this superbly crafted, fiendishly clever tale of a murderer whos methodically killing off unsuspecting Manhattan men. Gallingly, all clues point toward Kinky. Greenwich Village is the setting for Ten Little New Yorkers, a tale of murder and mayhem as only Friedman can warble it and featuring his usual suspects, including Ratso -- Dr. Watson to Kinkys singular Sherlock Holmes. As the clues and bodies pile up and the cops strong-arm Kinky as their man, he has to jump through hoops to find the real killer, all the while maintaining his outrage and, of course, his innocence. The murderer may be someone close to Kinky, which leads to a shocker of an ending that will surely take Kinky devotees completely by surprise. With a wink and a nod to Dame Agatha (as in Christie), after which all resemblance to those classic mysteries fades, this is one of Friedmans most complex and irresistible page-turners yet. Cunningly tentous issues of life, death, guilt, innocence, love, loss, and the danger of false confessions, this is Kinky Friedman at his wily, suspenseful, and sacrilegious best.

Alone in his New York loft, the private detective Kinky Friedman reflects on friendship and why all his friends are out of town. Feeling a little melancholy, his mind turns to Stephanie DuPont - very hot but pretty much resistant to all his advances. The phone rings and Kinky''s old contact Hoover from Honolulu is on the blower to report that Kinky''s great friend Mike McGovern has disappeared while in the process of researching and writing his cookbook, Eat, Drink and Be Kinky (now also available from Faber). Our hero files to Hawaii with Miss DuPont, and in a series of farcical wild goose chases Kinky ends up visiting the local museum, where in a room full of ancient relics he stumbles upon a full-size sculpted wooden head that is a dead ringer for McGovern. But what on earth can a bust of an ancient high chief have in common with Kinky''s missing friend?

Kinky Friedman is not only a man of the people, hes a man of the animal kingdom. Kinky is a man who wears many hats -- not just a Stetson. Aside from being a politico, folksinger, and mystery author, hes also a longtime animal advocate and feels as passionately about his pets as he does about legislative reform. But rather than simply write about his own experiences, why shouldnt he include a few friends? Of course, Kinkys address book is unique, and hes taken full advantage. In his new collection, Kinkys Celebrity Pet Files, the Kinkster writes about his famous friends and their pets youve never met, each with a story as delightful and offbeat as the author himself. Kinky has gathered together an eclectic and extraordinary group of talented celebrity pals to talk about the subject nearest and dearest to their hearts: their pets. With candid, personal photos of the stars and their beloved animals and insider stories to match, the book is like a party only Kinky could throw, and the results are both entertaining and endearing. Its not your average celebrity pet book, because Kinkys not your average celebrity. Hes got musicians, like Johnny Cash and his pig, Brian Wilson with his dog, and Willie Nelson doing his best horse whisperer impersonation; actors and comedians ranging from Phyllis Diller with Miss Kitty to Richard Pryor on a pygmy pony; and a lineup of writers, politicians, and some heroes of the past -- Bill Clinton, Joseph Heller, and Mark Twain, to name a few. Hilarious, oddball, heartwarming, and edgy all at once, Kinkys Celebrity Pet Files is a book for animal lovers, celebrity junkies, and anyone who just likes a good story. Its a little weird, its completely charming, and its 100 percent Kinky.

Dylan Weinberg, an eleven-year-old boy with a rare form of autism, is missing. A stock market wizard, he can only utter one word, 'Schnay'. Kinky takes the case but he faces a dilemma when Lucky, a cat from his aunt Nancy's Utopia Animal Ranch, also disappears. Kinky decides to put his faith in Village Irregular Steve Rambam, who was trained as both a cop and a rabbi, to help find the kid in New York. Meanwhile, Kinky hightails it to the ranch in Texas, where the only witnesses are a dim-sighted, eighty-year-old lady and a frisky canine named Mr Magoo. Luckily, it seems that Lucky stowed away in the back of Nancy's truck, got spooked by some wolves, and then somehow found his way home. As for Dylan, Kinky has a sinking feeling that Dylan's father, fed up with a mountain of medical bills, may have disposed of his sick son. In fact, Kinky finds him tucked away in a slightly less than Dickensian orphanage where he has been abandoned. It's a double happy ending, and even the great Kinkster is at a loss to explain it. The cat, of course, said nothing.

Kinky Friedman, the original Texas Jewboy, takes us on a rollicking, rock-and-rolling tour of his favourite city: Austin.Maybe you want to know where to find President Bushs favourite Austin burger joint. Or maybe you want a glimpse of Willie Nelsons home. Or maybe youre itching to learn the history of a city that birthed Janis Joplin, Stevie Ray Vaughan and countless other music legends. Its all here in The Great Psychedelic Armadillo Picnic, the slightly insane, amazingly practical, and totally kick-ass guide to the coolest city in Texas by none other than Kinky Friedman.This aint no ordinary travel guide, neither. As might be expected from this politically incorrect country-singer-turned-bestselling-mystery-author, the Kinksters tour includes a bunch of stuff you wont find in any other guide, from descriptions of Austins notable trees and directions to skinny-dipping sites to lists of haunted places and quizzes and puzzles. So put on your cowboy hat and your brontosaurus-foreskin boots and head down south with the only book you need to get to the big heart of this great city.

There is and could only ever be one Billy Bob Thornton: actor, musician, Academy Award-winning screenwriter, and accidental Hollywood badass. In The Billy Bob Tapes, he spins colourful tales of his dirt-poor Southern upbringing, his Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (fear of komodo dragons and antiques), his life, his loves (including his marriage to fellow Oscar winner Angelina Jolie), and, of course, his movie career.The Billy Bob Tapes is full of incredible stories and righteous philosophical rants, told with the help of his close friend, legendary country music star and bestselling author, Kinky Friedman. Put these two iconoclasts together and you get a story thats not just a celebrity memoir, but a unique, hilarious and insightful pop culture manifesto.