[Trek Realist]

The proper title of the book, unfortunately, trips the word filter ... but you are a smart bunch and I am confident you will figure it out.

Yes, this the the second tome (and I use that loosely) by the Captain of Debauchery himself ... Tucker Max.

This is not much different than his first book, tales of lewd behaviour, general mayhem, & drunken debauchery. On the up side of this though, there are many more tales of our intrepid author getting the short end of the stick ... but, it does little to dent his titanium coated ego.

Again, on the one hand this is the kind of scatalogical, doo-head, frat-boy humour that we have all known and loved since the genre was thrust upon us by John Landis and John Belushi in Animal House. On the other hand I find that I read these stories with a faint taste of revulsion and pity mixed with a little envy. The first two sensations are fairly obvious ... Tucker Max has an over-inflated ego and there are several times in which his mouth is writing cheques his butt can't cash. How he has escaped injury, criminal charges, STDs and death is a source of constant amazement. The envy is pretty obvious. I don't know of many people who would not be jealous of the kind of lifestyle he has ... seemingly carefree, many "good" times, travel, public exposure and even admirers. Hey, who wouldn't want that?

But, when all is said and done it is the pity that stays with me the longest. This is not a stupid person ... he graduated from the University of Chicago with highest honours and attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship and graduated from that program in 2001. As a writer I think he is still finding his voice, but there are times he is able to paint vivid pictures of people and situations that are quite engaging ... although he can't write a sex scene to save his life But really, with that intellect and this natural charm that actually appears to make people overlook what a sorry human being he is, it is a real pity that he really is nothing more than a dancing monkey for the entertainment of the masses. He is the Fratboy Peter Pan, and despite all his gifts I can't see him rising beyond that moniker.

Well, he has promised (threatened?) there will be a third volume of his misadventures ... allegedly entitled Hilarity Ensues. For his sake I hope he can capitalize on this early success in his life because he is creeping up on 40 years old and despite what everyone thinks, we all have to grow up sometimes.