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Boy, Oh Boy, Have We Got Some Reads for You



 
 
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Old June 10th 07, 04:40 AM posted to rec.arts.books.childrens,misc.kids,alt.parenting.solutions,soc.libraries.talk
Fred Goodwin, CMA
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Default 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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