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Boy, Oh Boy, Have We Got Some Reads for You
Boy, Oh Boy, Have We Got Some Reads for You
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...le/2007/06/07/ AR2007060702055.html http://tinyurl.com/2ocmpt By Justin Ewers Special to The Washington Post Sunday, June 10, 2007; M05 Boys will be boys -- that is, clever but flatulent, dirty but funny, mostly lazy, occasionally heroic and, of course, totally fascinated with blowing things up. So say three new books, anyway, which aim to put their finger on that most elusive of manly skills: how to be a boy. Covering topics that will amuse boys of all ages (did we mention flatulence?), they may even be worth giving to Dad -- the oldest "boy" in the house -- on Father's Day. Less Danger, More Fun "The Dangerous Book for Boys" (Collins, $24.95) is a brazen effort by two British 30-somethings to inject the good old days back into boyhood. Call it a primer for a life of snips and snails and puppy dog tails. It has already had a surprising run to the top of Britain's bestseller list. Inside a faux-Victorian cover, brothers Conn and Hal Iggulden offer boys a guide for nearly every conceivable challenge, from making a go- cart to finding north in the dark. Brief history lessons on subjects near to boys' hearts -- the golden age of piracy, battles from Thermopylae to Gettysburg -- follow answers to boyhood's eternal questions: Where does cork come from? What's the world record for skippin g stones across a lake? (Thirty-eight skips, for any challengers.) Anticipating a backlash from those left out of the fun, the Igguldens concede that some girls may enjoy their book, too. "But as a general rule," they write, "girls do not get quite as excited by the use of urine as a secret ink as boys do." Fair point. Potential for destruction: C (How badly can you hurt yourself playing stickball?) Suitability for actual boys: A+ (Field test it with a 10-year-old. He'll love it.) The Invention Dimension There are nearly 7 million patents registered in the United States -- and let's hope they aren't all as outlandish as the 70 inventions featured in "It's a Guy Thing: Awesome Innovations From the Underdeveloped Male Mind" (Three Rivers, $13.95). From motorized pogo sticks to head-mounted kegs, Scott Seegert highlights some of the best "guy stuff" on file at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Even grown-up boys, in his cheerfully pessimistic analysis, are concerned mostly with finding new ways to shoot one another, with less effort, while drinking beer. Along with a portable automobile urinal, a high-five simulator and a bulletproof helmet, Seegert discovered designs for inflatable furniture that floats to the ceiling -- so the truly lazy gentleman doesn't have to make his bed. Then there is the .22-caliber golf club, complete with an exploding charge in the club head that prevents the ball from hooking or slicing. Seegert describes the device with a certain fatalism: "Guys like to shoot guns. Guys like to play golf. It only stands to reason that they would absolutely love anything that combined the two activities." Fore! Potential for destruction: A ("Bulletproof" helmets and motorized pogo sticks: 'nuff said.) Suitability for actual boys: D (Beer gadgets aren't for the underage.) Ready, Aim, Fire! "Science isn't just about blowing things up," a friend once told William Gurstelle, author of "Whoosh Boom Splat: The Garage Warrior's Guide to Building Projectile Shooters" (Three Rivers, $16.95). "Rather, it's about blowing things up and knowing how you did it." So begins a potentially frightening book devoted to the fine art of explosive-projectile flinging. Laden with step-by-step directions for constructing devices such as T- shirt cannons and miniature pulse jets, Shakespeare, it is not -- but that won't faze the fanatical and obsessed. Soliloquies on the best brand of PVC pipes abound, along with several stern warnings about safety. Gurstelle's potato cannon, after all, uses a stun gun ignition system to fling spuds more than a 100 yards. And that's one of his smaller projects. "You might believe that building a jet engine at home is beyond the means and capabilities of most hobbyists," Gurstelle writes. You would be wrong. A word to the wise: If a neighbor buys this book, take cover. Potential for destruction: A+ (Potato cannons and jet engines, c'mon!) Suitability for actual boys: D (Um, Mom would never approve.) Justin Ewers is a senior editor at U.S. News & World Report. |
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