"It's not you, it's me. And you. And my mother" "Narcissistic Megalomaniacs and the Women Who Love Them" "The Women's Path to Colon Health: How to Shit Only Once a Year" This is fun.
Wasn't she writing a kid's book? "Reminisces of Father After Coitus" "If He Cheats, Just Try Harder" "Bulimia for the Modern Adult" "Passing Blood Curdling Farts and the Human Response" "The Industrial Revolution and Theories Abo- Oh, Why God Doesn't He Answer My Calls!?"'' "Needing You Isn't A Sickness"
For a little trip down memory lane... <a class="postlink" href="http://reader.feedshow.com/show_items-feed=535c41cba442dd9c435df585314bd962" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://reader.feedshow.com/show_items-f ... 85314bd962</a>
"It's not emptiness if you think it about it enough." "When I jump will there be a sploosh sound if I don't hear it?" "Being a modern whore in the real America." "I don't know how I could possible cram this title into a few words because when you think about it, this book is about everything, and my life too. Have you ever sat down and thought about where we're at as a society? Like, I mean, really at. Well, that's what this book is about. You should totally read it." "Since I'm a girl, will you pay attention to me if I start talking about fucking again?" "I can't tell if I'm dying inside or growing as a person. Are both possible?" "How to go from insane to driving everyone else insane." "It's not my fault other people judge me for being a skank." "My cooch doesn't smell, not that bad."
If I recall correctly, she's "had a book written" for years at this point. Personally, I found her to be an exceptionally insightful, intelligent person 90+% of the time, and the old board truly was a pretty misogynistic place due to the people drawn to that aspect/interpretation of Tucker's work. But hey, to each his own.* *"Why not her own, you sexist pig?!?!"
I was surprised to hear everyone's opinions on her when I got to TiB. There was a lot of disdain towards her. I was clueless to it, she was actually really nice to me and I don't think ever took a potshot at me once. But you are right that she enjoyed starting shit: I remember if a guy got too Man-ish she would burn the house down on him. And I think judging by the many things she said she may be chemically imbalanced or something.
You mean like the Ice Cream Cake Girl shitstorm? That was hilarious, but she (or someone else) deleted the whole thread. If anyone can find that, I'll be very grateful.
Chemically unbalanced? Noooo.... Just so we're clear, I'm sincerely not trying to be glib or insulting about this. These entries were from the link I posted earlier. And she's not "crazy" in the way you normally make fun of people for. As mental health nurses will phrase it, some people need a new brain (i.e. something is severely wrong with them) and some people need a spine (i.e. may have issues but need to suck it up). She is a truly, profoundly mentally ill woman. Some of her antics are laugh-worthy, sure, but beneath that are some serious issues that need serious help.
Personally I always found that shit to be fun to read. The let me show you how completely fucking crazy I am shit was interesting.
I really feel bad for her after reading that. It's kind of like a neighbours puppy howling in the night, horribly annoying but at the same time you kind of want to comfort it, even knowing it's probably the kind of dog who will shit in your house then try to bite you.
Unpopular opinion time: I went to the preview of IHTSBIH in Athens, GA with three friends - one of whom had never heard of Tucker Max before - and we all really enjoyed it along with most of the audience. It was even kind of hard to hear the movie at times over the audience's laughter. I was honestly just as surprised as Tucker was that the movie was a flop (although to be fair at 19 I was definitely drinking the Tucker Max kool-aid and believed him to be almost as much of an industry-revolutionizing visionary as he did). Furthermore, as much as I miss the RMMB I kind of understand why Tucker wouldn't want to spend his own money just to fund a site for everybody to shit on him for putting out a flop of a movie (I always held out hope that he would bring the board back later after the hate-party died down). Relative to much of this board, then, I guess I'm still a bit of a Tucker Max apologist. That said, I found his topic post in the reviews, discussions, and blog posts thread to be pretty ironic in hindsight. Funny how he was so adamant about holding everybody responsible for their opinions when he assumed he would be proving them all wrong, and then when it turned out that he was wrong instead he took down his "independent record" along with the rest of his message board and basically hid himself. Kind of sucks when you look back and realize the person you idolized when you were younger wasn't quite everything you once thought they were. Anyway, New York is kind of far for me but if his Broadway show were in or nearby my city I would've bought my ticket already. If it comes out on DVD or something I'll definitely be buying it, although I honestly don't know what to expect from it yet. I seem to be in the minority in that I actually still really enjoy just about every piece of content that Tucker puts out. I even check his new blog semi-regularly (although I skip all the self-indulgent "quotes" posts). He might be overcome by hubris at times but I still generally find his writing pretty funny and interesting.
In regards to Tucker closing the site- I thought he was losing money on it? Hypocritical? Yes, but I wouldn't be paying money out of my pocket every month to prove otherwise. I loved the book and hated the movie. Reading it in one's narrative, thinking about petty issues you may have had with a random fat person then seeing him portrayed on screen came off completely different. I'm not fat nor have I ever been, but humiliating one in real life for one's entertainment is not funny. Fat can be replaced with any of his target demographics. If I had seen him at a party verbally destroying a fat girl, my first thought would be, "why is this guy so insecure he attacks the low hanging fruit?" Why is he trying so hard? Hell, I think even Tucker realized this and pulled a lot of punches in the movie compared to the book. He's a hell of a writer and I wish he'd evolve as an author.
Agreed. He can make up any excuse he wants but the subsequent books just didn't do as well, despite the good reviews. Most good writers, especially contemporary writers, grow and mature with their audience. Stephen King, Chuck Pahalniuk, Brett Easton Ellis, etc all vastly grew as writers and were able to turn out really great works, even after their magnum opi put them on the map. Tucker stuck with the fratire, but the ship had sailed. The high schoolers/college kids that liked the first book were over that scene and the shock factor faded away. Now if he had turned out something like Philalawyer's book the second time around, he would much more successful than he is now.
I understand what you are saying, but those are terrible examples. Pahalniuk and Ellis's later works are TERRIBLE compared to their earlier ones. Also, Max is making BANK with the newer books. Since he released them on his own imprint, he brings home almost $11 per book sold. Eleven fucking dollars. Hilarity Ensues has sold something like 500K copies. He made over 2MM on IHTSBIH. Max is "successful" by any extent of the word. Bunny may be crazy (her book is specifically about her craziness and her path to sanity, which is why it isn't finished: because she's not sane yet) but she is exceedingly nice and supremely talented. Of all the Maxian folks I met (save Stydie and Nils), she was my favorite. Taryn gave life-affirmingly good head, though, and lots of it. Even when she was dating a married Ranger poser.
He wrote a book, sold a couple of million copies. This caused him to be bought almost as many free beers as women chased him to hookup. Which lead to more stories that filled out another two books which may have not sold as well or been of the same quality but still made him millions upon millions of dollars. Now approaching middle age he gets to follow whatever path in his life he wants and be financially comfortable doing so. Short of snooty literary snob standards, I think pretty much every normal person would label that immensely successful.
Colleges also spend an obscene amount of money on speakers like him. I wouldn't be surprised if he's made a million plus from just giving speeches and other promotional events. If I was going to make a list of great contemporary writers Tucker would be no where near it. He's too lacking in depth and range, and his attempts at fiction have been disastrous. If I was ranking by numbers he would, however, be higher than a lot of authors on that list.
I don't have an opinion on TM's status in the world per se, but your argument is really limited. You're defining success solely by financial indicators, and if you're going to do that, those are relatively low numbers you're throwing out. I know folks that made that much, at that age, by just flipping houses in the Bay Area, or by giving their lives to investment banking in the late 90's/early naughts. The real question is is how much of an impact one makes in the world, or to use his own words, "what do you bring to the table" and "how relevant are you" and how much are you "revolutionizing the industry?". Finger in the wind, with those measures, I'd say TM is still a work in progress, but I applaud him for fearlessly trying.