From the Publisher
The smudge looked suspiciously penis- like. The doctor confirmed:
"That''s the baby''s penis!" which caused not celebration, but
panic. Joel pictured having to go camping and fix a car and use a
hammer and throw a football and watch professionals throw footballs
and figure out whether to be sad or happy about the results of said
football throwing.
So begins his quest to confront his effete nature whether he likes
it or not (he doesn''t), by doing a twenty-four-hour shift with
L.A. firefighters, going hunting, rebuilding a house, driving a
Lamborghini, enduring three days of boot camp with the U.S. Army,
day-trading with $100,000, and going into the ring with UFC Hall of
Famer Randy Couture. Seeking help from a panel of experts,
including his manly father-in-law, Boy Scouts, former NFL star
Warren Sapp, former MLB All-Star Shawn Green, Adam Carolla, and a
pit bull named Hercules, he expects to learn that masculinity is
defined not by the size of his muscles, but by the size of his
heart (also, technically, a muscle). This is not at all what he
learns.
About the Author
Joel Stein grew up in Edison, N.J., went to Stanford, and in 1997,
became a staff writer for Time magazine. In 1998, he began
writing his sophomoric humor column which now appears on the back
page of the magazine every week. He also writes many other articles
for Time, and has contributed to the New Yorker,
GQ, Esquire, Details, Food &
Wine, Travel & Leisure, Wired, Real
Simple, Sunset, Playboy, Elle and
many more.
He has appeared as a talking head on many TV shows, taught a class
in humor writing at Princeton, and wrote a column for the Los
Angeles Times for four years. He and his wife live in Los
Angeles with their son.
About the Book
Stein takes on a quest to confront his effete nature whether he likes it or not, by doing a 24-hour shift with LA firefighters, going hunting, rebuilding a house, enduring three days of basic training with the Marine Corps, and going into a UFC ring.
