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Tucker Max

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Tucker Max
Max at 140tc, September 2009
Max at 140tc, September 2009
Born (1975-09-27) September 27, 1975 (age 48)[1]
Atlanta, Georgia, United States
OccupationWriter, blogger, producer
GenreFratire, comedy, non-fiction
Notable worksI Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, Assholes Finish First

Tucker Max (born September 27, 1975) is an American author and public speaker. He chronicles his drunken and sexual encounters in the form of short stories on his website TuckerMax.com, which has received millions of visitors since Max launched it for a bet in 2002.[3][4][5][6]

Max's book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell became a New York Times #1 bestseller and has made the Best Seller List each year from 2006 to 2011.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] It has sold over one million copies worldwide, including 400,000 copies in 2009 alone.[14][15] He is also the founder of the now defunct Rudius Media, an Internet-based publishing outlet and management firm.[16] His book was subsequently made into a feature film of the same title. In 2010, he followed up with Assholes Finish First and has announced two subsequent books, Hilarity Ensues and Sloppy Seconds: The Tucker Max Leftovers, to be released in 2012.

Max was also a 2009 Time 100 finalist, though he did not make the magazine list.[17][18]

Early life

Max's father, Dennis Max, is a restaurant owner in South Florida.[2] Max grew up in Lexington, Kentucky and attended Lafayette High School before transferring and graduating from New Jersey's Blair Academy in 1995. Three years later he completed a B.A. in Law, Letters and Society at the University of Chicago, graduating with honors in 1998. Max attended Duke Law School on an academic scholarship, where he received a J.D. in 2001.[19] He was a summer associate at Fenwick & West.[20]

Projects

He began his career by publishing The Definitive Book of Pick-Up Lines (2001), which he followed up by Belligerence and Debauchery: The Tucker Max Stories (2003).

Max was the facilitator of the website "Tard Blog", from 2002- 2003.[21][22]

In 2006, Max began development of a television pilot for Comedy Central, but the project was canceled after a reported dispute with Sony about feature film rights.[23]

In September 2006, Simon Spotlight Publishing, a division of Simon & Schuster, announced that Max was contracted to release a book in January 2008, titled Assholes Finish First. Undisclosed delays pushed the release date to September 2010.[24][25] He purportedly received a $300,000 advance from the publisher for Assholes Finish First and released a revised and expanded edition of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell in January 2009.[26][27][28][29][30]

Max was also the founder of an online company named Rudius Media. The company website stated that it was "dedicated to finding, publishing, managing and publicizing new and original content by unknown or under-promoted artists and writers."[31] His blogging network included psychologist Rob Dobrenski, journalist and television host Mark Ebner,[32] strategy writer Robert Greene, and actor/comedian Jamie Kennedy.[33][34][35][36] Rudius Media was closed down on November 1, 2009.[37][38]

In 2008, The Hollywood Reporter announced that Tucker Max was producing a movie based on his bestselling book, also titled I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.[39][40] Max detailed the process on a production blog hosted on the movie's website.[41] Actor Matt Czuchry portrays Tucker in the film.[42] The film was panned by critics and earned $1.4 million at the box office on a $7 million budget.[43] Max attributed the poor box office performance of the film to oversights in marketing, but he expressed hope it would find an audience on DVD.[44]

In 2011, Max was a guest speaker at the Ancestral Health Symposium, giving a presentation entitled From cave to cage: Mixed martial arts in ancestral health.[45]

Fratire

Main article: Fratire

Max, along with George Ouzounian (known more commonly by his pen name, Maddox), is considered a founding author of the 21st century literary genre "fratire".[46] The term was introduced by The New York Times reporter Warren St. John in a 2006 article titled Dude, Here's My Book.[47] The genre is characterized by masculine themes and could be considered the male equivalent of chick lit.[47][48] Both Max and Maddox resent the label, and have pointed out that neither of them were ever in fraternities.

Controversies

In 2003, Max posted on his website an account of his relationship with Katy Johnson, who was Miss Vermont in 1999.[49] Johnson filed a lawsuit against Max claiming, among other things, an invasion of her privacy.[49] In response to the lawsuit, a Florida state court judge issued an order for Max not to write about Johnson, to use Johnson's first, full, or last name, to use the phrase "Miss Vermont" on his website, or to disclose any "information" or "stories" about Johnson. Legal experts called the decision "kooky" and "clearly a suppression of free speech."[49] The ACLU intervened, claiming a breach of Max's First Amendment rights,[50] which led to Johnson's voluntary dismissal, and Max's story was once again posted on his website.[51]

In January 2006, Max posted a thread on his message board satirizing Anthony DiMeo, a young Philadelphia socialite, for throwing a New Year's Eve party that did not turn out well. The number of partygoers that actually appeared greatly exceeded expectations, which resulted in the alcohol and food available for guests running out well before midnight. The over 700 young partygoers got unruly, two pieces of art were stolen, and the city police were called to disperse the crowd.[52][53] DiMeo subsequently sued Max under the Violence Against Women Act contesting that some of the comments on Max's message board were libelous and represented criminal behavior.[54][55] The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed under the Communications Decency Act, with U.S. District Judge Stewart Dalzell noting that although Max could be a "poster child for the vulgarity," the law must protect "the coarse conversation that, it appears, never ends on TuckerMax.com."[56][57]

In May 2009, Max held a speaking engagement which was picketed by a feminist group at Ohio State University, who claimed that his writing "promoted a culture of rape."[58] In August 2009, the North Carolina State University Women's Center held a silent protest of I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell.[59] The advertisements themselves were also vandalized in multiple cities[60][61] and ultimately banned by the Chicago Transit Authority.[62]

Bibliography

Filmography

Writer
Year Film Other notes
2009 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Co-written with Nils Parker
Producer
Year Film Other notes
2009 I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell

References

  1. ^ http://www.tuckermax.com/pictures/album/72157625046618110/photo/5030065705/assholes-finish-first-book-pictures-clown-crawl-police-report-pg-1.htm
  2. ^ a b Max's Grille. "Dennis Max". Max's Grille. Retrieved 2008-01-15.
  3. ^ Darko to Serve Max's Beer Variety. "Richard, Ted and I all appreciated Tucker's gonzo style of writing in his book", Tatiana Siegel, June 10, 2008
  4. ^ Three in the Can for Beer in Hell Hollywood Reporter. "garnering millions of unique site visitors to read his short stories" July 8, 2008
  5. ^ Pair making tracks to Max Variety "Blog clocks 1 million-1.5 million unique visitors each month."
  6. ^ The Bet[dead link] TuckerMax.com.
  7. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 2/5/06
  8. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 5/7/07
  9. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 4/13/08
  10. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 1/2/09
  11. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 1/1/10
  12. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 11/08/09
  13. ^ NYT Bestseller List Paperback Nonfiction 4/10/11
  14. ^ Lee, Chris (2009-09-20). "Tucker Max in a 'Hell' of his own making". Los Angeles Times "...has sold a million copies". Retrieved 2010-3-4. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ "Facts & Figures 2009 Revised". Publishers Weekly. 2010-04-05.
  16. ^ Shrinktalk.net
  17. ^ Time Magazine Tucker Max
  18. ^ The Los Angeles Times Tucker Max in a 'Hell' of his own making
  19. ^ "Biography and Press Kit". TuckerMax.com. Retrieved 2010-01-03.
  20. ^ Tucker Max. "The Now Infamous Tucker Max Charity Auction Debacle". Tucker Max. Retrieved 2009-09-03.[dead link]
  21. ^ Google.com
  22. ^ TardBlog Mirror
  23. ^ Goldstein, Gregg "Beer in Hell" flowing to Big Screen Reuters April 17, 2008.
  24. ^ Matthew Thornton (2006-09-25). "Deals". Publisher's Weekly. Retrieved 2008-01-14.[dead link]
  25. ^ Tucker Max. "Assholes Finish First". Amazon. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  26. ^ "Gilmore Girls" veteran tastes 'Beer in Hell' Yahoo News. "and a $300,000 advance for his alcohol-fueled memoir for Penguin Books."
  27. ^ Vance, Ashlee (11 March 2007). "Tucker the f**ker claims blogger book deals are 'easy'". The Register. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  28. ^ Max, Tucker (2008-01-02). "Vote on the new cover for IHTSBIH". The Rudius Media Messageboard. Retrieved 2008-01-14.[dead link]
  29. ^ Max, Tucker (1 January 2009). I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell (Paperback). Citadel. ISBN 0806531061.
  30. ^ Max, Tucker (1/06/09). "East Coast Book Signings". The Beer In Hell Production Blog. Retrieved 2008-01-18. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)[dead link]
  31. ^ "Rudius Media". Rudius Media. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  32. ^ Mark Ebner Bio Tru TV "He also writes a blog on breaking news from the corner of Hollywood & Crime at HollywoodInterrupted.com."
  33. ^ "About the Rudius Authors". Rudius Media. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
  34. ^ "Hollywood, Interrupted" (Mark Ebner)
  35. ^ "Power, Seduction and War" (Robert Greene)
  36. ^ "JamieKennedy.net" (Jamie Kennedy)
  37. ^ Lifeat160.com
  38. ^ Philalawyer.net
  39. ^ Goldstein, Gregg (4/16/2008). "'Beer in Hell' gets big-screen treatment". The Hollywood Reporter. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |year= (help); Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)CS1 maint: year (link) [dead link]
  40. ^ IMDB: I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell
  41. ^ I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell - The Movie blog.
  42. ^ Jesse Bradford, Matt Czuchry, and Geoff Stults in "Hell" ArtistDirect.com July 10, 2008
  43. ^ BoxOfficeMojo.com
  44. ^ Tucker Max's I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell Blog[dead link]
  45. ^ From cave to cage: Mixed martial arts in ancestral health, Vimeo.com
  46. ^ "I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell's Tucker Max Talks With Philly2Philly.com". Philly2Philly "...credited with founding 'fratire'". Retrieved 2010-6-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  47. ^ a b St. John, Warren (2006-04-16). "Dude, Here's My Book". New York Times. Retrieved 2010-04-24.
  48. ^ Harkin, James. "The return of the real man". Financial Times (September 15, 2006). Retrieved 2010-06-20.
  49. ^ a b c New York Times - Internet Battle Raises Questions About Privacy and the First Amendment
  50. ^ TuckerMax.com: ACLU amicus curiae[dead link]
  51. ^ TuckerMax.com: Johnson's Notice of Voluntary Dismissal[dead link]
  52. ^ "What fun: A judge's ruling on libel suit" The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 31, 2006. Accessed via Lexis Nexis 2/19/2009. "The four-hour event with food and open bar at Le Jardin, in the Philadelphia Art Alliance gallery, ended early, the judge said - and after more than twice the 325 invitees showed, the liquor ran out, and revelers turned unruly, stealing two artworks, tearing sconces, trying to make off with a donations box."
  53. ^ Sometimes failure is funny: DiMeo's NYE party Rudius Media Message Board. January 3, 2006.
  54. ^ "Online rudeness to the max, but is it libelous?" The Philadelphia Inquirer. March 18, 2006. Accessed via Lexis Nexis 2/19/2009. "By contending that Max's site violated the new law that prohibits anonymous annoyances on the Web - the Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act of 2005 - the comments also represent criminal behavior, the lawyer alleged."
  55. ^ Duffy, Shannon Judge: Bloggers Entitled to Immunity Under Communications Act Law.com. June 2, 2006.
  56. ^ "Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites" USA Today. October 3, 2006. Accessed via Lexis Nexis 2/19/2009. "In dismissing the suit, U.S. District Judge Steward Dalzell noted that Max "could be a poster child for the vulgarity" on the Internet, but that he nevertheless was entitled to protection under the Communications Decency Act."
  57. ^ "What fun: A judge's ruling on libel suit" The Philadelphia Inquirer. May 31, 2006. Accessed via Lexis Nexis 2/19/2009. "While Dalzell wrote that "there is no question that tuckermax.com could be a poster child for... vulgarity," he found the law must protect "the coarse conversation that, it appears, never ends."
  58. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (2009-09-04). "Rude, Crude and Coming to a Theater Near You". New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
  59. ^ "Student Protesters Stage Rally Opposing Tucker Max Film Screening". Fox News.com. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2010-17-3. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  60. ^ "LA Not Particularly Welcoming to Tucker Max". Curbed LA. Retrieved 2010-3-4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  61. ^ "Little Italy to Tucker Max: Va Fan Culo!". Gothamist. Retrieved 2010-3-4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  62. ^ "Tucker Max ads appalling". Chicago Now. Retrieved 2010-3-4. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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