Lummox: The Evolution of a Man

Mike Magnuson's autobiography is an insightful read, not because Magnuson is some extraordinary figure, but because he is just like the rest of us; simply an ordinary guy trying to stumble his way through life, women and beer.Lummox recounts Magnuson's various life lessons with an honest and forthcoming tone. Certainly funny, the book is also peppered with solemn moments as Magnuson takes his knocks and rolls with them.It's defiantly a guy's book - in the same way that Chuck Palahniuk's books are... written with an unapologetic, realistic and sometimes sexist tone.I highly recommend this book to any guys out there who are looking for realistic and intelligent male-centric literature.

If you liked Thomas McGuane's "Nothing But Blue Skies" you should enjoy this book as well, although there is a whole lot less male angst going on this book. Magnuson makes no pretenses about being a modern, civilized, or politically correct man. He writes unabashedly about the deeds and "misdeeds" of a young man, and in the process lends some degree of comfort to men who have done the same or similar piggish things. The scatological humor had me laughing so hard I cried, and ultimately I came away thankful to know there are other guys who should know better but nevertheless, from time to time, indulge in and enjoy the baser side of masculinity.

I was sold when I saw his gut ornamented with the 'Champagne of Beers' and read the quote which he introduced the book. I knew I just had to read this book and Lummox is probably the funniest and most insightful book I have ever read about how men evolve. I couldn't put it down. My wife was wondering why I was lauging out loud while I was reading it. I would recommend it to anyone that wants to be fully entertained and gain a perspective on the inner workings of 'guys' - their rough exterior combined with their sensitive & intelligent inner core. His journey though life illustrates the rollercoaster that everyone goes through and how to maintain laughter during the peaks and valleys. I hope that Mike Magnuson gets the recognition he deserves for this book!

No work in fiction today better personifies the aimlessness for those few unbuttoned-down men of the 1980's than the beer-slopped story of Mike Magnuson's early life. Told with the bipolar relish of the third person, the book leads from one gutbusting failure to another, until finally, on a happy note, Mike ends up in jail for the weekend for attempting to steal "the hand of God". For once, the beer and weed flush from his system, and he is able to structure a lucid plan to do something great when he finds a beat-up paperback of Rollerball in the cellblock. Like JohnBoy Walton, Mike decides to become a writer. Of course, life is never so simple. With profanity and defecation emitting at every turn of phrase, Mike's story is the path many a man would take if not for the restraints of religion, sobriety, commonsense good judgment, or a capable woman holding a paramount place in their lives. You just know the next "opportunity" will lead to greater heartache, hangover and intestinal blithering; but Mike presses on with his brilliance in the background and his dead-end job at the forefront of his greasy shirt. Mike's Lummox is the guy of Dave Barry, the guy who pops in when the bottlecap twists off and the potato chip bag is opened, the guy who had no war to fight but would have wanted to join the VFW for pitcher night anyway, the guy who changes his own oil on his gravel driveway and fills his deertag every year, the guy who would sell his drums before borrowing a few bucks, and the guy who spouts Shakespeare and airdrums at the bar when the music is fast, the air is blue, and the company is 'Oh so perfect'. He is the guy of Drew Carey, the guy your dad talked about from the nightshift, and the guy George W. shouldn't want to meet, again. Yes, in person and in his book, he is that guy. And his profanity-ridden story is a must for anyone who thinks they know anything about the 80's, factories or what it means to be a selfish clod in search of the good times. Read it, because you want to, not because somebody says you have to.

Mike Magnuson has tapped into the soul of the everyday man. His memoir speaks what so many of us out there living that life can't which is we are what we are. His prose is easy to read yet fully utilizes every available avenue with which to deliver his message. If you do not enjoy this book, you do not know yourself.