I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
by Tucker Max
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Book Reviews of I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell
Book Review: Hilarious and well written, but Tucker should retire
Summary: 4 Stars
I really enjoyed this book. Tucker Max has a sharp wit, and his book is more gut laughs than it is chuckles. But there is something pathetic about a 30 year old guy who still hangs out on college campuses. To Max's credit, many of these stories took place when he was in college himself. But nearly a decade later he's still at it, flogging a dead horse. He reminds me of grown men who still wear their varsity football jacket from high school. Also, some elements of his stories just don't ring true. In the "Foxfield weekend" story, he claims he was mid-coitus when a pepper spray can that was in the girl's purse discharged. Funny, but definitely fiction. Pepper spray cans have a spring-loaded guard that you must lift and slide your finger under (at which point it takes several pounds of downward pressure to spray it). At the very least, they have a safety lock you must slide over and then down (similar to what you'd find on a "child-proof" lighter). To suggest it could go off accidentaly from someone lying down on a purse is laughable. I'm not suggesting that Tucker Max is another James Frey. I have no doubt that his stories are mostly true. I'm just saying his exploits are more mundane than he makes them out to be. I also suspect he inserts fabricated dialogue after the fact (when he's had time to think about it) to make himself seem more macho and witty than he really is. Nonetheless, I consider myself to be a Tucker Max fan. I just think for his own sake he should grow up and shift his career focus. People will eventually grow tired of a 30-something guy who writes about partying with kids hardly half his age.Book Review: Entertaining, at least for the first few stories
Summary: 3 Stars
Tucker has a knack for wit and no boundaries obliging him to keep it to himself. That, his penchant for women, and his love of making fun of everyone make his book pretty engaging. I had it read cover to cover in no time, especially after I spent hours ignoring others around me to stick my nose between the pages. And even though Tucker is sort of a disgusting individual, he is also not unintelligent, so he becomes an interesting protagonist to be following around.
That said, the novelty of his "craziness" wears off after awhile. Fortunately, he always seems engaged as story-teller--here is someone genuinely excited about themselves and their life, even if it is stupid--but, really, vomit, poo, and vagina stories lose their zest when they are told over and over again. I imagine it stays exciting when its your own life--as it has for him--but, as a reader, by the end I felt like a read the same story many times over.
(As a side note: for someone who seems to enjoy being on the right side of exploitation and self-honesty, I find it odd that he fancies himself as a "writer." Uh, I hope he gets it straight before real disappointment, but he is just a blogger with some adventures that got published. I doubt we'll see him writing about anything contentful in the future or in any domain outside of bar-hopping (but maybe thats an obvious point).)
Anyway, read it for some good laughs and try not to take it too seriously and get offended. At lest people can't get any more pointless than this!
Book Review: A funny light read
Summary: 3 Stars
I got this book as a light read for vacation, and I think it served its purpose well. I heard of this book because Tucker Max's celebrity was emerging while I was in law school. He and his blog were often a topic of discussion in the library and between classes. It's a fairly short book broken into small sections where he essentially tells a different story with each break.
The stories are truly legendary. I found myself laughing out loud and retelling some of the stories to my wife. They range from the outrageous to the gross. While the book has several weaknesses, the stories really are the lifeblood of this book, and aren't overshadowed by flowery writing or unnecessary "stretching" by the editors.
As far as weaknesses, I'd have to say that the writing is just not very strong. Mind you, this is Tucker Max's first book, so there's always room for improvement. The writing is stilted at times, extremely simplistic, and repetitive, though I guess that still can't ruin a good "crapping your pants" story. Since these are recollections of stories that occurred at different times, several elements are repeated a little too often. Some readers may be turned off by the author's carefree rich kid attitude, but Max makes no apologies for it, and I think it actually adds to the stories.
I would recommend this as light reading on the beach. It's a short, easy, entertaining read for when you're just looking to have a good laugh.
Book Review: Waste of time...Lot of "well you should have been there" stories
Summary: 2 Stars
As I was struggling through the first parts of the book, I began thinking of the guy at the party that is telling an extremely long very common story, and at the end, when only a few chuckle politely, he says "well I guess you had to have been there." Don't get me wrong, I love politically incorrect, crude, and downright offensive humor, but this was just boring. How is telling a story about a bunch of drunken college kids stumbling about the local dives of a college town book-worthy?
The ironic thing about Tucker's work is the fact that he admits to being cocky, arrogant, and abrasive; however, he also belives he is an extremely talented writer. You can see this throughout the book as he consistantly reminds the reader as to how effective his writing style actually is. He is obviously very impressed with himself throughout the writing process. It is my belief that if one must remind the reader that he/she is, in fact, a great writer, then said writer might want to work on his/her form. The style was very unoriginal and a feeble attempt at mimicking similar antagonist writing styles in my opinion.
Sadly, this book will sell and inspire many young adults just begininng their transition into adult life that this is a desirable way to act and the idiocy will ensue. Good luck with your book, and I hear they made a movie as well. I'll probably miss out on that one, but congrats anyway. I hope they have better screenwriters than the actual author.
Book Review: Beer Goggles For Readers Who Like Comedic Reads
Summary: 4 Stars
Sure this guy is a chauvinistic, non-pc, egomaniac, pig - but god what good and funny stories Tucker tells.
If people are too sensitive or like Tucker would say, "can't take a joke", then don't read this book. Otherwise, be prepared to laugh out loud and enjoy some good storytelling and easy reading. Very entertaining and actually informative information (be that it is mostly sexual and alcohol knowledge) is contained in this book. The mind of the male college party animal is exposed and to a degree the college female psyche is exposed in these stories. Whether it's the sexy model, girl next door, desperate, horny, ugly, or your average college girl. A lot is exposed and talked about in a realistic, `don't hold your tongue' way. And all in good fun and laughs too.
Some of the down points of this book were that a lot of these stories were either embellished, exaggerated or even slightly made up. The grammar and spelling was pretty bad too. Editor definitely needs to do a better job next time (e.g. - page 50 of the soft cover has `tired' instead of `tried').
At times some of Tucker's bragging, narcissism, and exaggerations made me want to say: "I think I've read enough of these frat-like stories" But nevertheless if you keep on going the book will grow on you. Besides, the book reads so easily and fast that you'll be laughing, reminiscing, vicariously living, that you won't really be bothered.