So, my job has been a little slow for about the past two weeks, and as I was lamenting this fact to a friend of mine, he suggested that I check out this book, which he happened to have in PDF form.  Perfect for reading while making it look like you could actually be doing something important.  This book, a recounting of stories from one Tucker Max, would have been a quick read anyway, but when you’re doing nothing but reading for about 6 hours of your day all told, I managed to finish this one in about two, two and a half days.

Part of the reason that this reads quickly is due to the format in which it is written.  Basically Tucker Max started his own website a few years ago to blog about the scenarios he managed to get himself into involving women, alcohol, or some combination thereof.  I have to say at the outset, this book probably is not for everybody.  If you don’t enjoy hearing drinking stories that border on make-believe or about the latest way a playboy has managed to use or abuse a woman, you might as well just stop reading this entry now, because you’re sure as hell never going to read the book.

While this book is great literature by no means, it is definitely an entertaining read.  At many points during the book, which of course I’m reading clandestinely at my desk, I thought I was going to have to stop because the urge to laugh out loud for extended periods of time hit me over and over again.  As he points out at the very outset of this book, the author is by no means a good human being.  He doesn’t try to justify himself in anyway, or even to say that his behavior should be a model for anyone else.  Tucker Max simply sets out to recount his escapades, and recount he does.  While they never exactly fall flat, some of the stories are definitely a better read than others.  He starts off with the story he feels is the best (I did visit his original website while reading this book, tuckermax.com, where he said so himself) and goes on in a somewhat descending order from there.

The concept of the book really is nothing new, as all of us can probably think back to hundreds of times we related a particularly funny drinking adventure or a rather embarrassing sex romp.  But how many of us actually have taken the time to write it all down, and more importantly, write it in a way that makes a complete stranger who has no idea who you are think it’s entertaining?  Plus the sheer number of stories that this guy has is simply amazing.  Some of you may read it and think to yourself, there’s no way that all of this is true.  I for one, who have a friend similar to Tucker Max in many more ways than one (and he would consider that a compliment), really believe that all of this did happen.  I also think that sometimes, it’s not the story itself that’s necessarily all that charming, but rather in the way you tell it.

Reflective of our modern society in format and in content, I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell by Tucker Max is one of those books that picks you up and takes you along for the ride.  Enjoy, my friends.  3.5 out of 5 stars.

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