D’Arcy’s Book Club – Assholes Finish First

Assholes Finish First Tucker Max Amazon.ca Amazon.com Chapters/Indigo

I’ve take a bit of a break from business and life-empowerment type books for my next two reviews, both of which are somewhat autobiographical.

The first is Assholes Finish First, the follow up to Tucker Max’s first hit I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell. Since that book came out, Tucker has done a few things: produced a movie based on one of his stories, become somewhat of a celebrity, and moved into his 30’s. All of this has an impact on AFF’s tone. IHTSBIH was an autobiography of a frat boy while still a frat boy. AFF still has stories of debauchery, sex, drinking, partying, and encounters with the law, but its tamed with a sober and mature tone (yes, I used sober and mature to describe Tucker Max’s tone).

Take for example a cornerstone story of the book that takes up a good chunk, which involves taking a rented RV with a group of Tucker fans on a drunken voyage through the Bronx. Typical Tucker fare…except this time we’re met with a disclaimer by Tucker warning against the evils of drunk driving.

Wait, what?

Also, the stories here seem to be tamer fare from the previous book. Early on we read about how he accosted a tent city of Duke students waiting to get tickets to a sporting event using a megaphone. After verbally assaulting them through the night, security comes and gives Tucker a stiff warning which results in…well, in him not bothering the tent city students with the megaphone anymore.

There’s also a different tone in how he talks about the women he beds. In IHTSBIH, there was an obvious “I don’t give a f*ck” attitude towards the women, but in AFF women are placed on an even field. He talks about his “f*ck buddies”, suggesting that he has more than just one night stands and some level of a relationship. He even devotes pages to the writings of women who have slept with him to give their take on the experience.

Of course, this is still Tucker we’re talking about, so we hear about how he beds an unattractive woman just to strike off “sex with a spy” off his list, or his threesome with two female little people (and he answers whether you can spin them around…yeah, its what you think). And the clown party, ooohhh the clown party…

Tucker is at his best when delivering the short stories, or the quick one-liner escapades. The RV story, while entertaining, was looong , and some like the megaphone story didn’t seem to have the expected payoff.

Still, for those of us in our 30’s wanting to go along and revisit our 20’s (or live vicariously through another’s experiences), AFF offers us the opportunity from someone who seems to be realizing the absurdity of his life events.

3.5/5