Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness

I have owned this book for several years and reference it on a regular basis in MANLY conversations. I have purchased several copies and give it as a gift only to very deserving "manly" friends and each time they have been eternally grateful. I decided to add a review after making the "Salt Steak" this weekend. It was unbelievably delicious even after wrapping in in newspaper and soaking it in a bucket of water. I also used the opportunity to initiate my 13 year-old son into manhood. He opened my beers and read the dirty jokes while the steak was cooking. What a bonding experience! I am purchasing his copy today.

The Von Hoffmann brothers have nailed what it is to be a man. They have included in one volume all there is about the manly art of being a man. Women may not get insight into us, but men will grunt and howl in appreciation and agreement. A fantastic unapologetic look at all the things and people we love. Well done boys! It's sad that it's out of print. Get a copy wherever you can. Great stuff!

This is truly a great book. From Potato Cannons to instructions on how to play craps, this book has a great deal to offer many different types of people. A baby boomer male? This is a trip down memory lane, and will elicit lots of fond memories of childhood fads. The wife of a baby boomer? This book will give you some insight on those things on which he spent his wastrel youth. The child of a baby boomer? You'll get a glimpse of the ways your old man raised hell when he ws a kid/teen/young adult. It's a shame this book is out of print. It ought to be re-introduced (and even updated.)

Make this the cornerstone of your manly library. This book is like a fine wine. That's only an assumption, because being manly as I am, I don't know much about wine. However, your first contact with the Big Damn Book will leave you amazed by the depth and breadth of the Von Hoffman's insight into what is manly. But over time, you will savor the true beauty of the what the brothers have done by showing that men are truly multifaceted creatures. We like WD-40 and Duct Tape! Do yourself favor, and buy several copies. You will want at least one for yourself, but undoubtedly your friend Joey will "borrow" your copy and not return it.

I swear on a jar of Lawry's Lemon Pepper that every boy should be given a copy of this book upon entering puberty. Women have "Our Bodies, Our Selves", and we have THIS!I gave a copy of this book to my father, who rarely if ever reads books at all, and he read it cover to cover, three times! Everything that is TRULY masculine is here! From classic manly films ("Sparticus", "The Quiet Man", "Rollerball", "Blade Runner", "Citizen Kane", "Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)"), to recipies for salt steak and "colon cleaner chili" (burns going in AND coming out!), to detailed info on booze, fighter planes, cards, catapults and spud cannons, Nevada's (legal) brothels, fishing, Coleman camping supplies, Swiss Army knives, guns, cigars, WD-40 and (gotta love the name) Corry's Slug and Snail Death (!), this book has it ALL! There's even biographies on John Wayne, Victor McLaglen, the greats who played in John Ford's films, and even Cassius Marcellus Coolidge (the genius who painted the poker playing dogs)! If this book had a chest, it would have hair and tattoos! It's like every bar-room boast, "first dirty joke you've ever heard", boy scout camp fire story, beer commercial and pick-up truck in one! So, come on! Park the amphibious 4X4 in the garage, put down those power tools, fire up that BBQ grill, open a cold one, and read the most politically incorrect tome to grace a coffee table. By God, this book is a work of genius!