I was handed a copy of IHTSBIH during my freshmen year of college in the fall of '07. I read the book in two days and it absolutely changed the way I thought about life, as cheesy and stupid as that sounds and I began lurking on RMMB. For a college freshmen Tucker might as well have been God. He was claiming to live the life that I wanted to live. It was my first exposure to ways of thinking that went against the grain and norms of society. As a 19 year old, I thought he was the most fascinating person I had ever read about. I'm happy that he's moving on from all of that shit because I sure as hell hope I'm not being as stupid and out of control at 30 or 35 as I am at 23. As much as I loved IHTSBIH my favorite story came from Assholes Finish First and the DC Halloween Party Story. Slingblade has long been my favorite character in the books and I thought he was incredibly awesome and funny in that story. Mr. Peepers had me in stitches.
Stop being so dense. Do you believe in a million years that someone with an ego like that is going to come out and say I was wrong, I'm fucked up but I have changed for no reason? Put aside for a moment that he MAY have become a better person. What is his motivation? His motivation hasn't changed. He has books coming out, he is trying to make money, he is trying to remain in the spotlight. If it weren't for the books coming out why would he be sitting down for interviews about it? Why would this be getting so much press?
I was at the event in Raleigh where most of the protest pics were taken. It was pretty hilarious. Seeing it live and then seeing what people did to the images was great. I became a member at RMMB after reading his book and while the place had lots of funny, I came to the party pretty late and was a little intimidated to post. I pretty much lurked for the year/ year and a half or so I was there before it shut down. So often, people would get skewered for just posting. This place, although born from the RMMB ashes, never had that air of pretension and I never once have felt uncomfortable posting anything on here. You'll get called out if you post something stupid, which we've all been guilty of, but people aren't mean for the sake of it and rep comments here just seem so much more in good fun.
I started reading Tucker's stuff, and then the TMMB after I found The Bunny's blog and thought it was awesome. I still laugh at a lot of Tucker's stories - but knowing him a bit better - I read them very differently than I used to. Tucker's biggest mistake in the movie was trying to make it 'A Tucker Max' movie. He didn't try to make a movie that would sell tickets - he tried to make it a movie that would concrete his brand. In the process - he alienated a lot of the major creative influences he was working with and he passed up windows of opportunity that would have made it a way better movie. I don't really remember what was public and what was mod only information - so I won't go into it. But one pass up in particular I think could have completely changed the direction of the movie. It wouldn't have done anything much for establishing him as a major name - but it would have drastically altered the odds of the movie making a major profit and him getting enough success as a writer to move on from there. But he didn't want that. He wanted to world of movie watchers to be as aware of his name as internet frattire readers. And it went south. At the time, I got why he made the decision - but it was a bet that just didn't pay off. The dude should have made the other call, given the script to a director and a producer with a history of making money on frat boy comedies, and collected his money - and used that success to leverage another project to push his brand. Knowing him a bit, I get why he didn't. But still. I really hope this means that he's abandoning his ego quest to establish his name as a super hero brand for alcoholics and he's going to just be a writer who tells funny stories now. As an aside - The interview in that article reads like brutally honest Tucker. The kind of brutal honesty that I saw in private conversations with him in email and on the mod board. The kind of brutal honesty that he didn't like, didn't want to do, and would never have done publicly on the TMMB. The shit he usually deleted or edited out of the mod board when it was around. I dunno. I don't know the guy worth a damn apart from the internet interactions - but I don't see bullshit or spin in that article. I'm sure there is some - it's fucking Tucker. But the parts that grab my attention all feel honest.
Was that article ridiculous, or was it just me? 1.) Tucker is still a narcissist, just in an analytic way. 2.) The author is a narcissist, in a, I used to be dirt-grub but now I'm happy, way. (look at his website, arguably more offensive than Tucker's) 3.) This is likely a stunt to sell his 'final' books that are coming out. 4.) Scarlett is a nurse in the, I'm-a-stripper, kind of way, right? 5.) What the hell does the author mean, Tucker doesn't realize he hurt women that chose to read his book because they didn't choose to participate in his asshole-teasing? They chose to read his book. 6.) Why does Tucker write when an interviewer is at his house and he's watching college football? 7.) Is the Erin girl bunny? Psychoanalysis huh? Ridiculous.... 8.) ....... Edit: Not trying to hate on the guy, good for him. But, jesus...
Lets for once pretend that we still have some ability to have an intelligent conversation instead of a train wreck. If this turns into a clusterfuck - I'm just going to channel the good old days of the TMMB and ban everyone who annoys me, and then edit their posts to clarify the details of their of homoerotic longing for mods. Talk, be funny, whatever. But don't actively derail the thread for the sake of showing off what a giant cock you are. Also, I consider Erin (The Bunny) a really good friend. If it's relevant to the conversation - by all means talk about shit and hate on whoever you feel the need to hate on. She doesn't care, but it annoys me. So if it's not relevant? Shut the fuck up or I'll get creative.
I got into Tucker's writing around 2003/04, but didn't join RMMB until 2006. In fact, the week I joined was when the "Joey Porsche" thread started. Hands down, one of the funniest threads around. Yes, some of the mods were quite snarky. Some of them really seemed to hold e-grudges, and do anything they could to fuck with certain people. However, the wealth of knowledge and information I learned from people on that board were staggering, and the comedy was also priceless. Also, if it wasn't for the RMMB, we wouldn't have this glorious place, so for that, I'm thankful. I will definitely say that this place has a lot more of a friendly vibe, and I'm thankful for that. As far as Tucker himself, I had a few e-mail exchanges. He was cordial, not overly friendly, but not arrogant either. More of a "time is money, and I'm going in many directions, so let's wrap this up" type deal. I also met him at a book signing on the second tour. Much more polite and friendly in person (though it might be due to the fact I had a good 4-5 inches and 100+ lbs on him). We engaged in a little college basketball talk, and he seemed very gracious in shaking my hand and saying "Thanks for coming". As far as moving on, thank God. I'm glad he was smart enough to get away from his schtick and hope he's able to branch out with his next project. As for him dating a hot, big-breasted 22 year old nurse with issues: having hooked up with, and dated, a few nurses in my single days, I would say that is a profession filled with women that are good in bed and dtf, and are generally unpretentious. Plus, no matter how changed someone might be, they still have a preferred type, and it sounds like she's right up his alley (as well as the alley of most straight men). So is he a schmoo? Is he a "famous asshole"? I'll say this: I've had people with far less fame and appeal be far bigger showbiz assholes to me than he was.
I found the site through the tardblog(god that was funny, I really do miss that site) back when i was in university so some time say 2002-2003. I lurked for a long time, never really posted anything, because it always seemed if you disagreed with a mod, you got banned, they turned everyone against you. So i just read and laughed. Like most people here, I think he is a talented writer, i will probably end up reading his books because they will make me laugh. But i am not going to be checking every week to see when they are going to be coming out.
The biggest takeaway from Tucker and the old TMMB/RMMB was not living your life by other people's standards. Having grown up in a conservative environment, my life was going on a very boring, very predetermined road map. Hearing stories from all of the members of that board greatly impacted some long held "beliefs" I had about my own life. It was also a place you could be very open (even though it was heavily modded) about things in life that aren't acceptable to talk about in most circles. That's one of the things I enjoy the most about the continuing of this board. There are very few places where I can have the types of conversations I have hear in my daily walk of life. His lifestyle wasn't something I wanted to model my own life around, but he did have some very insightful messages. Granted, a lot of those same messages are passed around by other people, but his was the voice that I heard first. I'll definitely buy his next two books, and I'll still keep his site bookmarked and visit it now and then to see what he's up to. *Also being turned onto Robert Greene was an awesome byproduct.
Does anybody know what became of Nils? For some reason I got the impression that he burned his bridges in the legal community and laid all his financial cards on the movie.
I read the article yesterday. I posted it on Facebook with the caption "Therapy at Work" so an alcoholic family member who idolizes Tucker could see it, and hopefully read it. I've directed him towards therapy before, but the idea never seemed to take root. Readiness to change and all that jazz. A couple of thoughts that stood out while I was reading: Psychoanalysis is an expensive and incredible draining process. Heavy analysis is typically considered twice weekly. Psychoanalysis from a trained analyst can run the gambit from $150 to approximately $250 per session. If he really is going to analysis 4 times a week, he's deeply invested in his growth, personally and financially. A couple lines that I read seemed as if they had been parroted directly from the analyst. Tuckers only been in therapy for approximately 9 months. He hasn't changed but it seems that he's in the middle of it. He seems to be gaining insight about himself and his tendency to repeat patterns throughout his life. It seems like he intellectually understands things, but hasn't quite crossed the bridge to actually feeling it yet. That's a hard step in the process. The idea between psychoanalysis is that cultivating insight will force a person to change. The idea that if you are able to get someone to understand that they're in a pot of boiling water, they'll get out of it of their own accord once they truly understand. Psychoanalysis and psychodynamic theory don't have as much evidence supporting as cognitive behavioral therapy, but psychoanalysis and the psychodynamic school of thought (particularly Freud's work) were created as a treatment for Histrionic Personality Disorder, which falls under the same cluster of personality disorders as Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Tucker would probably benefit from several years worth of analysis, and I'm happy he's seems to have made it a priority. That being said, I am a bit suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the interview, particularly with two more books coming out. Everyone loves a redemption narrative. The idea that someone went to edge, bested their demons, and came back to tell the tale is appealing to folks. It wouldn't surprise me if his narcissistic tendencies were driving these behaviors, but he simply lacked insight and awareness into his own motivations and the convenient timing. Either way, I hope he gets what he's looking for and I'm appreciative for the RMMB. I discovered the RMMB in '07 after I received the book as a Christmas gift. The collective wisdom of the RMMB helped me grow in various domains in life and exposed me to a variety of concepts I had little to no knowledge of, particularly the old finance thread on the RMMB.
Don't know if this is too reliable or not but from http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080210074846AAV80Tj Typical hardcover royalties are 10% on the first 5000 units sold; 12 ½% on the next 5000 units and 15% thereafter. Trade paperback (the large ones) royalties are 7 ½% and mass market (ordinary paperbacks) royalties are for 8% for the first 150,000 units sold and 10% thereafter. Only when an author has a well-established readership is he or she in a position to negotiate better terms. Source(s): Victoria Strauss, AbsoluteWrite So take 10% of say $12 and it's $1.2 x 2 million = $2,400,000. As a guess.
Well, let's think what he's defining as rich here. When you live in Austin, have let's say $500,000 in the bank, (what's he making off DVD sales/OnDemand sales?), have two book advances, still making money off a new paperback...you can probably say "Yeah I'm rich." If he was still living in L.A. I doubt he could be saying the same thing. Also if he made shit money before, and has $200,000 before, he might feel rich. Him being rich is prelational to what he wants to spend his money on. He's not a guy to want a Lambo, expensive clothes and diamond watches.
Then again he did think that movie was going to net him a sufficient amount to buy a Gulfstream, so he may not be as well educated financially as he makes himself out to be. That being said, I think the guy is funny. He's an insufferable pain in the ass and can't stop talking about himself, but he's funny. To this day every time I go to McDonald's for Happy Meals for the children I look at the menu for McSeabass.
Honestly, I'd like to know the metrics of careers like his. Not to take it too far off track here. From what I can gauge stars don't speak out about their finances for a couple of reasons. One, the negotiating power they have with it, as in they are told not to by agents/publicist so people in their field (say actors on the same tv show or writers) don't demand more and sink the whole ship kind of deal. Or they are bleeding hearts that want to speak for the common man but in reality are far from it. Tucker did sell a relative shit ton of books. Even Adam Carolla mentioned it as a sort of bench mark for humor books aimed at that glorious 18-45 year old male demographic when he was releasing his book (I think he only sold 30-40k thousand books, which is good but far off 1.6 million for a single book). One of the most interesting post on the movie thread on the old board delved into the finances of making a movie and it was a popular thread, even Tucker thought it seemed like a boring subject before there was a huge response to it.
I tried to read AFF, and got through 50 pages before I gave up. Once he got to the part where he was 'explaining' that the only reason any guy does anything is for pussy, and if you don't get this you clearly aren't a world wise enlightened individual, and you'll figure it out someday, and be happy there's someone to elucidate this to you since Tucker never had that figure and - I stopped. That's actually molded with some of what he said on the RMMB, but I knew I wasn't interested when his book got to that point. I didn't find anything insightful in that article, and that's why I can't read his books anymore. He just doesn't have anything to say to me. It's ironic that for someone who has written so extensively to other people about how to pursue their ambitions and discover self awareness he seems to be lagging over a decade behind a lot of people. So much of his philosophy comes back to that retarded alpha/beta male dichotomy. Life's only about that if you make it about that. Seriously, look at Tucker and the guy who wrote that article. I don't think anything he said was disingenuous, and for people that do think that I doubt you read his posts on the RMMB, or you're just a very suspicious person. This is the way he feels, in his patented dramatically overblown achiever tone. It's hard to pick a favorite story out of IHTSBIH. The Austin road trip was great, and I still snicker when I think about him sprinting to that toilet while kicking up shit all over the hotel lobby. Anything with Slingblade was good. I might have to pick the Midland, Texas story as my favorite for the town being so uniquely and hilariously fucked up. From the RMMB itself, I'll stick with this: