Steve Almond is just an writer. He hasn't climbed Mt. Everest or been kidnapped by terrorists or any other particularly exhilarating activity. Don't read this book if you're expecting anything of the sort. What he has done is lived a the life of a moderately successful author and written about some of the more memorable points of it in a reminiscent down to earth style. One of them is a lengthy memoir of how and why he resigned from Boston College and a subsequent appearance on Hannity and Colmes. If I were editing this book, I would have told him to keep this part in and cut most of the other stuff, as I felt like it was a collection of attempts to make everyday occurrences more interesting and humorous than they actually are. It didn't work for me. The author's take on things that happen to everybody (disliking a particular sports team, having a child, eating lobster) aren't funny or amusing, and just aren't worth writing a book about. A lot of this seems like filler, as if he had a few interesting stories but not enough to get a whole book published.

Here are some of the pieces and my summary/reaction:

"Why I Crush on Vonnegut" - a 54 page long recollection of a somewhat amusing literary conference and the author's experiences collecting information about Vonnegut in the Indiana University library. I kind of like Vonnegut, but this is way too much information about him to give the casual reader. Reading this is like reading the foreword to Breakfast of Champions.

"Why, Upon Publication of This Book, I Will Have to Leave the City of Boston Under Cover of Night" - 40 pages, some about how he doesn't like the Red Sox but mostly just every Oakland A's - Boston Red Sox game of the last 30 years summarized in neat paragraphs.

"Concerning the Laughable Nature of Literary Fame" - I didn't laugh.

"In Tribute to My Republican Homeys" - Despite the horrible title, this part is funny, interesting, and in my opinion, the highlight of the book.

"How I Became a Baby Daddy" - His wife had a kid. That's it.

I didn't really enjoy this book as others (like the New York Times) have, and I think it was due to two other reasons I haven't mentioned yet. For one, I think the author is a 40+ year old guy who's trying to reconcile middle age with a book that appeals both to his peers and to a younger crowd. He has pieces which older people might love (about becoming a father) and young people might laugh at (sexual exploits), and all of it is sprinkled with teenage colloquialisms ("Crush On," "Homeys"), the purpose of which is either ironic or a horrible, dated effort to appear youthful. I can't figure out which. Needless to say, depending on which side of the age gap you fall on, you'll only enjoy certain parts of it.

The second reason that this book didn't thrill me was because of the title and its implications. (Not That You Asked) would be a great title if I didn't ask. But I did when I bought the book. If he didn't expect people to be asking (aka buying it), he wouldn't have written it and stood by while Random House sells it for $22. The existence of the book itself is an invitation for people to ask. Maybe Steve Almond is trying to trick people into thinking that they aren't asking, so he can defend the dull nature of most of it when they complain about it like I am. But if his logic is right and I in fact "didn't ask," can I at least have some of my money back?