Not that you asked: rants, exploits, and obsessions

Book Cover
Average Rating
Publisher:
Random House
Pub. Date:
[2007]
Edition:
1st ed
Language:
English
Description
How does Steve Almond get himself into so much trouble? Could it be his incessant moralizing? His generally poor posture? The fact that he was raised by a pack of wolves? Frankly, we haven’t got a clue. What we do know is that Almond has a knack for converting his dustups into essays that are both funny and furious. In (Not that You Asked) , he squares off against Sean Hannity on national TV, nearly gets arrested for stealing “Sta-Hard” gel from his local pharmacy, and winds up in Boston, where he quickly enrages the entire population of the Red Sox Nation. Almond is, as they say in Yiddish, a tummler. Almond on personal grooming: “Why, exactly, did I feel it would be ‘sexy’ and ‘hot’ to have my girlfriend wax my chest? I can offer no good answer to this question today. I could offer no good answer at the time.” On sports: “To be a fan is to live in a condition of willed helplessness. We are (for the most part) men who sit around and watch other men run and leap and sweat and grapple each other. It is a deeply homoerotic pattern of conduct, often interracial in nature, and essentially humiliating.” On popular culture: “I have never actually owned a TV, a fact I mention whenever possible, in the hopes that it will make me seem noble and possibly lead to oral sex.” On his literary hero, Kurt Vonnegut: “His books perform the greatest feat of alchemy known to man: the conversion of grief into laughter by means of courageous imagination.” On religion: “Every year, when Chanukah season rolled around, my brothers and I would make the suburban pilgrimage to the home of our grandparents, where we would ring in the holiday with a big, juicy Chanukah ham.” The essays in (Not that You Asked) will make you laugh out loud, or, maybe just as likely, hurl the book across the room. Either way, you’ll find Steve Almond savagely entertaining. Not that you asked. “A pop-culture-saturated intellectual, a kindly grouch, vitriolic Boston Red Sox hater, neurotic new father and Kurt Vonnegut fanatic… [Almond] scores big in every chapter of this must-have collection. Biting humor, honesty, smarts and heart: Vonnegut himself would have been proud.” —— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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ISBN:
9781400066193
9781588366542
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Grouping Information

Grouped Work ID45d69871-9a1f-e51f-29bd-808e676da2d0
Grouping Titlenot that you asked rants exploits and obsessions
Grouping Authorsteve almond
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-03-06 05:40:02AM
Last Indexed2024-03-27 23:31:53PM

Solr Fields

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0
accelerated_reader_reading_level
0
author
Almond, Steve
author_display
Almond, Steve
available_at_gcld
GRC Fraser Valley Library
detailed_location_gcld
GRC Fraser Valley Library Non-Fiction
display_description
How does Steve Almond get himself into so much trouble? Could it be his incessant moralizing? His generally poor posture? The fact that he was raised by a pack of wolves? Frankly, we haven’t got a clue. What we do know is that Almond has a knack for converting his dustups into essays that are both funny and furious. In (Not that You Asked) , he squares off against Sean Hannity on national TV, nearly gets arrested for stealing “Sta-Hard” gel from his local pharmacy, and winds up in Boston, where he quickly enrages the entire population of the Red Sox Nation. Almond is, as they say in Yiddish, a tummler. Almond on personal grooming: “Why, exactly, did I feel it would be ‘sexy’ and ‘hot’ to have my girlfriend wax my chest? I can offer no good answer to this question today. I could offer no good answer at the time.” On sports: “To be a fan is to live in a condition of willed helplessness. We are (for the most part) men who sit around and watch other men run and leap and sweat and grapple each other. It is a deeply homoerotic pattern of conduct, often interracial in nature, and essentially humiliating.” On popular culture: “I have never actually owned a TV, a fact I mention whenever possible, in the hopes that it will make me seem noble and possibly lead to oral sex.” On his literary hero, Kurt Vonnegut: “His books perform the greatest feat of alchemy known to man: the conversion of grief into laughter by means of courageous imagination.” On religion: “Every year, when Chanukah season rolled around, my brothers and I would make the suburban pilgrimage to the home of our grandparents, where we would ring in the holiday with a big, juicy Chanukah ham.” The essays in (Not that You Asked) will make you laugh out loud, or, maybe just as likely, hurl the book across the room. Either way, you’ll find Steve Almond savagely entertaining. Not that you asked. “A pop-culture-saturated intellectual, a kindly grouch, vitriolic Boston Red Sox hater, neurotic new father and Kurt Vonnegut fanatic… [Almond] scores big in every chapter of this must-have collection. Biting humor, honesty, smarts and heart: Vonnegut himself would have been proud.” —— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
format_category_gcld
Books
format_gcld
Book
id
45d69871-9a1f-e51f-29bd-808e676da2d0
isbn
9781400066193
9781588366542
itype_gcld
Adult non-fiction
last_indexed
2024-03-28T05:31:53.502Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_gcld
813.6 ALM
owning_library_gcld
Grand County Library Dist
owning_location_gcld
GRC Fraser Valley Library
primary_isbn
9781400066193
publishDate
2007
publisher
Random House
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Almond, Steve
Authors, American -- 21st century -- Biography
Autobiographies
Biographies
Electronic books
Essays
Humor
Humor (Nonfiction)
Nonfiction
Sociology
United States -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Humor
United States -- Social life and customs -- 21st century -- Humor
title_display
Not that you asked : rants, exploits, and obsessions
title_full
(not that you asked) [electronic resource] : Rants, exploits, and obsessions. Steve Almond
Not that you asked : rants, exploits, and obsessions / Steve Almond
title_short
Not that you asked
title_sub
rants, exploits, and obsessions
topic_facet
Almond, Steve
Authors, American
Essays
Humor (Nonfiction)
Nonfiction
Social life and customs
Sociology

Solr Details Tables

item_details

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ils:.b27367174.i50588187GRC Fraser Valley Library Non-Fiction813.6 ALM1falsefalseOn ShelfAug 19, 2020grfan
overdrivecmc:ODN0000147992ODN0000147992Overdrive (CMC)Online Overdrive (CMC)eBookeBook1falsetrueOverdrive (CMC)http://link.overdrive.com/?websiteID=162&titleID=147992Available OnlineOverdrive (CMC)

record_details

Bib IdFormatFormat CategoryEditionLanguagePublisherPublication DatePhysical DescriptionAbridged
ils:.b27367174BookBooks1st edEnglishRandom House[2007]xiv, 288 pages ; 22 cm
overdrivecmc:ODN0000147992eBookeBookEnglish20071 online resource

scoping_details_gcld

Bib IdItem IdGrouped StatusStatusLocally OwnedAvailableHoldableBookableIn Library Use OnlyLibrary OwnedHoldable PTypesBookable PTypesLocal Url
ils:.b27367174.i50588187On ShelfOn Shelffalsetruetruefalsefalsetrue128, 129, 193, 130, 262, 126, 127