THE AIR, THE FROGS AND OTHER THINGS represents Ted's latest foray into the literary marketplace, "a last hurrah and testimony before I fade back into blue-collar anonymity." As the book's title suggests, the pieces in this collection cover a wealth of topics, moods and climates: from comical, to indignant, to romantic, to reverent-from the riotously absurd, to the embarrassingly personal-in short, everything you've always wanted to know about the author, but wish you hadn't asked. If you don't see what you like in one pasture, feel free to skip to another. (Only watch where you're stepping ) Many of the titles included here were previously published. Others are just now trying their legs for the first time outside the author's hard drive. Readers familiar with Ted's last two volumes of fiction will definitely welcome these incisive, poignant, often hilarious commentaries and first-person accounts. If you can bear to see the naked Ted (figuratively speaking) at the peak of his powers, doing what he does best, then climb aboard and enjoy the ride