Customer Reviews

Rude Behavior

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This was my belated introduction to Dan Jenkins. I picked it up at an airport because there was a football player on the cover (not the cover shown on amazon, obviously), and laughed through my entire flight. I have since sought out and read all of Mr. Jenkins' work - but the adventures of these football Bubbas still remains my favorite. As a native Texan and a football fan, you gotta love any man who drinks in a bar called "He's Not Here". As a woman, I have to say that readers need to lighten up and have a sense of humor about his often sexist (but seriously funny) world view.

If you are not a Dan Jenkins fan or strongly oppose "Archie Bunker" bigotry, this novel may not be for you. Jenkins does however weave an interesting tale of the NFL. Far fetched at times very funny at others Jenkins will leave the reader and avid football fan scratching his head, wondering if this is how the NFL is run.

The novel is a bit lengthy and is slow at the beginning. However Jenkins mixes football (both fictional and historical) with hollywood, social issues and political correctivness. Bring back the cast from "Semi-Tough" was great for the reader, but might of lost the new reader.

The book is not quite as funny as "You Got To Play Hurt", which would be a better buy for the new Jenkins reader. However if you like Dan Jenkins, football and aren't easily offended this one is a must read.

I've been a fan of Dan Jenkins' for years. I think Semi-Tough is one of the best football novels ever written and he has proven himself again and again to be a fine sports humorist. That said, Rude Behavior represents a pathetic shadow of Jenkins' former ability. The plot is trite, the dialog is laughable, the characters are shallow, and the book as a whole is just awful. It's hard to see someone I looked up to sink so low. I am embarrassed for Dan Jenkins.

Having read Dan Jenkins' other works, I began this one with considerable eagerness. But it was soon obvious that the author was pushing too hard to be funny. In his other works the humor seemed to flow effortlessly--especially in "Semi Tough" and "Baja Oklahoma" and "Dead Solid Perfect." This isn't to say that the current work isn't without its moments. It's merely that it isn't up to Jenkins' own high standards. That's the sad part of a book that is supposed to be funny. Ya gotta play hurt, Dan. Ya gotta take chances to be funny. The only thing in the middle of the road is a yellow stripe and dead armadillos, as a Texas politician said.

I've read most of Jenkins books over the years and I've noticed an unfortunate trend - namely, as Jenkins gets older and more curmudgeonly, he feels the need to spend 400 pages proving he can be more of a neanderthal than virtually any other writer working today. I'm sure Dan and many of his more loyal fans would protest that "Rude Behavior" is merely Jenkins' expose on the excesses of political correctness (of which there are many, to be sure). But this book has a "slapped-together to meet a contractual obligation" feel to it. It' is neither the parody nor the satire as one has come to expect from Jenkins. Instead, it is merely a rant about everything in modern society that Dan disapproves of. Jenkins spends so much time trying to force lame jokes onto the page that he seems to have run out of time to include a plot or any sort of character development. And it still takes him 400 pages to take on all the "shirt-lifters," minorities, liberals and others who apparently pose such a threat to Dan's world. In the end there just isn't much "there" there. If you haven't read the earlier books in this series, I suspect you'd have no idea who the hell these characters are supposed to be other than stereotypes of West Texas bigots. Perhaps the time has come for Dan Jenkins to sit back with a young Scotch and a Marlboro and bask in the glow of his earlier, far more successful novels. To continue to cash in on the effort expended on his earlier, better books is simply an embarassment.

Dan Jenkins' book should appeal to die hard football fans and former players from every level. Mr. Jenkins satirizes pro and college football with a broad humor that had me (a football mom) laughing much of the time. The hero, Billy Clyde Puckett, is from Texas, a former TCU player, and sets up his expansion team in West Texas. The author not only hits the mark on the exciting world of football but also in his humorous portrayals of local Texas color. Snowbirds should get more than a few chuckles. I'd call this book the "Airplane" version of the ole boy Wast Taxus Foo'ball World!

Perhaps his funniest book yet. I didn't think You Gotta Play Hurt could be topped, but I'm taking my time finishing Rude Behavior because I don't want it to end.

Yes, I too am a Dan Jenkins addict and I hope there is no cure. Rude Behavior is supra-classic Jenkins packed with one-liners, great characters, and an ending that is disappointing ONLY in the fact that you know the wait for his next book has started again. This is not a read for those who believe in politically correct language or situations. But, for the rest of us who wish to have fun, laugh out loud while reading, and wonder how Jenkins continues to maintain his high (or low depending on your point of view) standards,we know he has written his best book...so far.

For those of us who treat Dan Jenkins books as classics of modern literature, this one fits right in. Actually, I have a couple of problems with it. First, it should have come out two years ago so we could be waiting on another one. Second, as a minister, I can't tell most of the jokes, they're consigned to stay in my memory (i.e. "He couldn't hold on to a football if it was lodged in his rectum." Classic line, but hardly pulpit stuff). Great book.

I have long loved Mr. Jenkins' work and have adopted a few of his witty sayings as my own. It was work to read this one, but I toiled from respect for remembrances of things past. Still a faithful fan, I look forward to Jenkins' redemption.