Life Its Ownself: The Semi-Tougher Adventures of Billy Clyde Puck by Jenkins, Dan
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
absolutely awesome,
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This review is from: Life Its Ownself: The Semi-Tougher Adventures of Billy Clyde Puckett and Them (Hardcover)
This is the funniest and best of all Dan Jenkins works (and that's saying something since all his other books are tremendous )...I was laughing out loud from the very first paragraph to the end. If you are a sports fan this is a must read.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Drunk And Stupid Ain't No Way To Go Through Life - Is It?,
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This review is from: Life Its Ownself (Signet) (Paperback)
The upside of "Life Its Ownself" is the voice and gutsy turn for the invective Dan Jenkins peppers onto every page of this 1984 novel, a sequel to his better-known "Semi-Tough". The downside is the total absence of story, character, and a sense anything went into this book deeper than the typewriter ribbon.Subtitled "The Semi-Tougher Adventures Of Billy Clyde Puckett & Them", "Life" proceeds on the assumption you know everything you needed to know about "them" before cracking the book open. What follows is a fairly plotless collection of witticisms and tall tales brought together in the central character of Billy Clyde, a star NFL running back whose forced retirement sends him on a new career as a TV broadcaster. At the same time, his drop-dead gorgeous wife Barbara Jane Bookman takes a stab at acting with the lead role on a new sitcom. Their pal, Shake Tiller, a former wideout, now writes exposés that take apart the NFL. Life its ownself can be divided in this novel into the stuff these guys know already and the stuff they don't want to know. Characters don't talk to each other as much as have wise-off contests, throw back whiskey, and commentate on their latest string of sexual conquests. Women in this novel acquire a colorful array of nicknames, like "facemask", "Nordic combined", "bountiful awesomes" and the like. A lot of less pleasant words get thrown around, too - particularly the n-word, used by Jenkins to parody redneck talk rather than black people but still tiring fast. What's good about "Life Its Ownself", sometimes really good, is the chance to hear Jenkins spout off about stuff in sports under the guise of speaking through one of his characters. Pro basketball? "Four thousand teams get into the playoffs, and all the armpits look alike". Women's tennis? "I watched them double-fault and frown at their mothers." Cross-country skiing? "How a Norwegian goes to the Safeway." Football is the focus of "Life Its Ownself", namely an attempt by Puckett's old pal T.J. Lambert to recruit a pair of top running backs to Texas Christian University and Shake's expose of assorted NFL shenanigans. Football, as presented here, has become a corruption of its older, better self - both on the college level where prize recruits are bribed into colleges by rich alumni; and the pros, where overzealous officials have squeezed all the fun from the game: "When did breathing on someone get to be pass interference?" As a collection of one-liners, "Life Its Ownself" is fun for a while. As a novel, it fails to create much to sustain an ordinary reader's interest. About the closest thing to a conflict, Puckett's relationship with his wife, doesn't develop into anything meaty and just comes and goes, like the characters themselves, empty of any real significance. The other plotlines work the same, squeezed for chuckles and attitude, then dropped. "Life Its Ownself" is intermittently fun. Jenkins' good ole boy fans will have a ball reading this collection of high adventures and low-down pleasures. But if you aren't in the Jenkins club to begin with, "Life Its Ownself" is not your ticket in.
0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
adult humor and has some racist comments,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Life Its Ownself (Signet) (Paperback)
this award winning former Sports Illustrated writer is very plain spoken, nay earthy and uses racially offensive language at times - however, it mirrors society as a whole pretty well and the author is not 2 faced -was surprised to read this book after seeing Dan Jenkins advocate paying "student" athletes as their contributions to the financial welfare of the NCAA? and schools they attend is quite substantial - haven't heard any one else speaking out against the injustice of the current system he parodies the whole sports system
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