Among one of the most memorable books I have read is "I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell," a memoir by Tucker Max. I read it in Greece over two days and was floored by its originality and humor.
I was referred to the book by Scott, who originally received it from Courtney, who heard about it from Nick Rogers. Courtney also told Brother Bear about it, and all parties called it a must-read. I've since recommended it to Katrine, who called it "definitely different."
"I liked it," she said. "I have to give him [Tucker Max] credit for being smart and becoming successful, but I would never be his friend."
Why would she say that? Because Tucker Max is an asshole and, if you read the book, you'd know that the only reason he would befriend Katrine would be to get into her pants.
Each chapter is a stand-alone, crazy, college story -- the kind your best friend tells you, but is too embarrassed to tell anyone else about. Tucker Max has no shame. He tells one unbelievable story after another, and they're certainly all more entertaining than that story your best friend told you about. His stories detail sex, drunkiness and usually some combination of the two.
Here's what the book's author bio says:
"Tucker Max received his B.A. from the University of Chicago, where he graduated in 1998. He attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship, where he graduated with a J.D. in 2001 (despite the fact that he neglected to buy any of his textbooks for his final two years and spent part of one semester -- while still enrolled in classes -- living in Cancun). Tucker is purportedly the reason Duke dropped from 7 to 11 in the USN&NR rankings during his tenure. He currently lives in New York, and when he isn't drinking or fornicating, he writes for his website, tuckermax.com."
So why do I recommend this book? Because it gives insight to how people let themselves go from time to time and how parasites like Tucker Max benefit from those moments. As Scott says, "He's a genius who uses his intelligence for all the wrong reasons." He also happens to be a great storyteller and uses a direct dialogue style of writing that reads off the page the way a friend would tell a story.
It's offensive. It's hilarious. It's a look behind closed-doors. It's a New York Times Bestseller, and, more importantly, the first entry into the WIB Book Club. Those of you who have read the book, I encourage you to leave comments with your thoughts.
Scott's often questioned the actual value of his little sister, Caitlin, going to Gonzaga. He argues that similar educations can be found elsewhere for a fraction of the Gonzaga price tag.
But Scott, can you put a price on Caitlin's experience as a "Bomb Squad" dancer for the university? Certainly this experience can't be found at a lowly UW or WWU. Can you really quantify the emotions she invokes from Zag fans when she gyrates on floor during half-time performances?
"I can't believe my parents pay for this shit," Scott says. "We can send her down to Las Vegas to do the same thing and they'd pay her."
We'll let the audience be the judge of that. Look for Caitlin in the video below. She's third from the right, second row back when the performance begins.
Gramps will tell you about how they parade in masses through downtown Palm Springs. Make all the stereotypical jokes about San Francisco you want, but here's the fact of the matter: Seattle is second only to San Francisco in the percentage of residents identifying themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual, a new study reports. So start naming Seattle in your jokes, slurs or pride, depending on your alternative lifestyles stance
The study reports that 12.9 percent of Seattlites -- nearly 58,000 people, or the total population of Renton -- identify themselves as gay, lesbian or bisexual.
An important note The Seattle Times makes is that "the findings may have more to do with people becoming more comfortable about disclosing their sexual orientation in government surveys." The study's findings are drawn from newly released U.S. census data. This must be the explanation for another conclusion from the study: The reported number of gay-couple increased by 50 percent in Washington state between 2000 and 2005.
You might be surprised by these numbers. I'm not. Everyone knows Capitol Hill is an alternative lifestyle Mecca, but those of us who've been north to Bellingham (where an alternative lifestyle is working 9 to 5) or down to Olympia (where gay bars outnumber their counterparts) know that the Pacific Northwest is substantially gay and growing. And so it shouldn't surprise anyone that the Emerald City has a significant population of men who like to wear emeralds.
OJ Simpson is looking to make a killing with his new book, "If I Did It," to be released Nov. 30. To promote the book, OJ sat down for an interview to discuss the book's topic: How he would have committed the 1994 slayings of his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, and her friend Ronald Goldman, "if he did it." Call it a publicity stunt. Call it a sick way to publicly confess to murder.
