Out in the nerdlies

[Bookrat]

The discussion about bases got me to drag out a couple of Allan Sherman
books, not that I am ever reluctant to do so.  I discovered, much to my
amazement, that although his autobiography (_A Gift of Laughter_, 1965)
contains an entire chapter on his pubertal experiences, it does not so much
as mention first base, nor any other bases for that matter.  And although
_The Rape of the A.P.E._ (1973) contains a detailed section on "The Great
American Courtship Ritual" circa 1940, neither does it contain that
particular analogy.

However, in the latter work, there is a "boonies/tules" synonym which
caught my eye:

"Anyway, if you succeeded in getting a girl, you borrowed your father's
1936 Chrysler Airflow and took her to dinner.  After dinner you found
yourself driving around somewhere way out in the nerdlies, with the lights
of other cars coming seldomer and seldomer, the crickets growing louder and
Glenn Miller on the radio...."

Ken Miller
Assistant Drone
Johnson Institute for the Study of Harmless Drudgery