However, every so often there comes along a book that makes it worthwhile to put the movies and the TV shows on pause. The best books are ones that are able to transport you into their world where the characters become real and the stories become true. While this book might not compare to cult classics like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, it still succeeds in immersing the reader into a very intriguing world. The book I'm talking about is Tucker Max's "Assholes Finish First" and it is the follow-up effort to his first major hit "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell".
If you're unfamiliar with Tucker Max, he is considered a founding author of the literary genre "fratire" which is said to be the male equivalent to "chick lit". To make it simple, Tucker tailors his books towards male readers by filling his stories with masculine themes such as hooking up with girls, partying and drinking, and being the alpha male. To draw the reader in even further, the stories in Tucker's books about girls and crazy situations are all based on his own life and are told in an autobiographical way. This adds a certain sense of believability and stability to the stories. Although, one must often wonder exactly how much exaggeration and truth goes into these accounts. It's a lot like reality TV where you're not quite sure what's real and what's fake but in the end, as long as it's entertaining, it doesn't really matter. And that's precisely what "Assholes Finish First" is - entertainment.
Much like his first book, I couldn't put this one down. The ridiculous situations that Tucker gets himself into and some of the things that he says are just hilarious. You want to keep reading story after story to see how he can possibly top himself, and he always finds a way to do it. The book itself reads as a collection of stories, some long and detailed, others simply a recounting of different conversations. In an attempt to capture the essence of the book, I wrote down the following passage:
· “Let’s sum up the day, just for perspective: Beginning at 10am, I poured a constant stream of alcohol down my throat, got behind the wheel of an RV, drag-raced an ambulance, destroyed an apartment building, crashed into dozens of vehicles, hurled bottles and cans at random cars, got into a multi-vehicle chase, terrorized the most dangerous parts of New York City for hours, started a riot, got arrested, sobered up enough to beat every charge within five hours, went back out, got drunk again, and finished the night by sleeping with a Playboy girl at 3am.”
That should give you a clue as to the kind of adventures that Tucker Max supposedly gets himself into and then details in his books. When I first read "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell" I was often taken aback at the vulgarity of the language and conversations. "Assholes Finish First" follows this shock-factor trend and like I said before, it continually tries to top itself. It is to be expected with a subject matter like this that the most offensive parts are going to be the most memorable and I think Tucker is completely aware of this fact.
Believe it or not, there is more to this book than just a bunch of vulgar one-liners and dirty insults. Tucker is actually a pretty good writer and showcased his progress in this second effort. The way he shares the details of the stories is very smart and the transitions between sections are very fluid. There were even slight signs of maturity toward the end of the book as Tucker mentions the thought of settling down one day. It is sort of redeeming to know that there might actually be a respectable human being underneath all the misogynistic comments and asshole-like behavior. However, with the hint of two more books to follow "Assholes Finish First," one must think that Tucker has yet to put all of his partying days behind him. I'm sure there will be no complaints by his readers though, me included, as they will assuredly be anticipating how the great Tucker Max will top himself next.
#23 Read "Assholes Finish First"
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