Readin' Books And Shit

I think in a recent post I might have mentioned that I buy a lot of books that I don't read. Several months ago, I finally bought Sun Tzu's "Art Of War." Perhaps on the third night here in New York, I started to read it in my apartment that was still in disarray from the move. Two pages in, I put it down in favor of the then-current edition of Sports Illustrated.

I think I need lighter stuff this summer. I live in a small apartment with the Baton, I'm still adjusting to the new job and I'm trying to see the new city some. Once the Baton marches off to grad school and I have a little more down time to tackle something like "War," I'll get into it.

Consequently, I've since started to read two much lighter books the last two weeks. Frank Kelly Rich couldn't even get me to page 50 of his "The Modern Drunkard." It was quite boring and a failed attempt at being funny, much like most of these blog posts. Perhaps I'll keep it on the coffee table when I get one.

But Tucker Max has me locked in with "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell." He's definitely writing for a specific audience, and to those readers I'm sure he's a hero. I did my fair share of misbehaving in college, but this guy makes me look like a choir boy.

Max shares anecdotes from his Duke Law School days, when he drank himself into blackouts and hooked up with a new co-ed seemingly every weekend. Certainly his womanizing would offend many readers, but I'm sure those people aren't buying the book in the first place.

If readers understand that he's not only a complete a-hole to women, that he's also an arrogant frat boy, some of his tales will make you laugh out loud. And I'll continue to give him the benefit of the doubt, as he hails from the great state of Kentucky, which I used to call home for about six years.