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The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: Villard
Category: EBooks
List Price: $9.95
Buy New: $7.96
You Save: $1.99 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 48892
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Dewey Decimal Number: 070.92
ASIN: B000FCKCB0
Publication Date: September 6, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Joshua Davis dreams like most guys. He wants a fun career, exciting adventures, a happy wife who’s proud of him, and really big muscles that strangers can’t help but admire. Too bad he’s a 129-pound data entry clerk whose wife, Tara, has only three simple requests for their life together: direct sunlight, a dining room, and a bathtub.
Since none of these exist in their 250-square-foot San Francisco apartment, Josh sets off on a quest to become the provider his wife wants him to be. The problem is that he does it in a way that most people in their right minds would never consider: he enters the most grueling and unusal contests in the world.
In The Underdog, what begins as a means to get Tara her bathtub evolves into a charming story of courage, adventure, and just a little bit of insanity. On the heels of a fourth-place finish (out of four contestants) in the lightweight division of the U.S. National Armwrestling Championships, Josh gets a spot on Team USA and travels to Poland to face “The Russian Ripper” in the World Championships–and Tara finds herself wishing her husband would go back to data entry. Unfortunately for her, he’s just getting started.
Over the next two years, Josh ventures to Spain to try his hand at bullfighting, sumo-wrestles 500-pound men, perfects his backward running in India and at the Golden Shrimp “retrorunning” race in Italy, and bonds with his family at the Sauna World Championships–because sometimes it takes a blistering 220-degree sauna to bring loved ones together.
By turns hilarious, harrowing, and inspiring, The Underdog documents one man’s ballsy attempt to live the American dream to the extreme.
From the Hardcover edition.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 25 more reviews...
 Good, but not great September 12, 2007
A previous reviewer compares the author's work to Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods. Considering a usually successful use of self-deprecating and anecdotal humor, I can understand the comparison between the author's style and Bill Bryson's style. The author is undeniably funny. Relying entirely on the author's passion for adventure, the narrative describes a theatrical series of events fit for a screenplay.
However, that is all this book offers and why the comparison to Bill Bryson falls well short of accurate. The strength of Mr. Bryson's writing is the purpose underlying the humor, especially self-recognition through experience. The reader can internalize Mr. Bryson's experiences, see the world from Bryson's vantage and ultimately identify with Mr. Bryson's motivation for writing the book.
Mr. Davis' The Underdog falls short of Mr. Bryson's achievements. Instead of relating to narrative, the reader must watch from the sidelines. In this case the author's strength is also his weakness. How many readers can identify with first hand-experiences of bull-fighting or sumo wrestling? The effect is, essentially, a Hollywood blockbuster in a book. What you see is entertaining, but fails to stimulate any further thought.
Furthermore, and what was most disappointing to me, was the lack of conclusion. I kept waiting for the author's epiphany to explode off the pages and into my conscious, but instead of an explosion I got a series of undeveloped thoughts more analogous to a shotgun at 200 yards than a grand-finale. In the final passage, the author's last chance to tie the whole book together, he opts to wander off on a completely new tangent relating his experiences to the untapped potential of the internet (Did Wired ask you to plug The Long Tail, or was this your idea?). Instead of finishing the book with an appreciation for how this author's struggles to find his purpose in life might assist me in finding mine, I was left with questions:
Was this about the unquenchable American spirit? Or, was it about the changing definition of achievement and success? Alternately, it might have been about appreciating your own family, your talents, your opportunities, etc instead of admiring your neighbor's lawn. Honestly, I don't know.
In essence, The Underdog is a funny one time read, but certainly not deserving of such glowing reviews as it has received here on Amazon.
Crazy Dude May 8, 2006
0 out of 17 found this review helpful
This author sent me an invitation to be his amazon friend. Hello! All of my reivews are bitter and sarcastic, why would I want to buy your book? Maybe I should you spam about "enlargement" products. How would you like that? The book might be a great story. Frankly, I don't care! I would rather read a book about the mating rituals of worms than me spammed by an author that wants me to buy his book.
Laugh-Out-Loud-Funny, Clever, Touching, and Relevant March 21, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
From the moment I read the first three pages of the introduction I was hooked. This book speaks of and to the American spirit with humor and wit. Not only did I laugh out loud every time I opened it, but I cried a few times too. It's the kind of book that you read so fast because it is so good, but you don't want to so that it will last longer.
If you are looking for a book that inspires you through narrative and challenges you to go beyond your day-to-day life, or, if you want a hilarious window into the zany life of some "average" Americans, look no further. We are told to follow our dreams in a culture that is not set up to handle it when all of us do. This book is for us an answer to that problem. I look forward to many more insightful books from this talented author.
Giving geeks around the world hope for a better future March 8, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
A quick read; fun and emotionally transparent. Our little hero graces his way through eccentric adventure after eccentric adventure, all the while proving that even the least talented among us can be champions (or at least, very nearly so). There is a tenderness in this book. In its Quixotic madness, it transports us into worlds of danger, adventure, greatness, and saunas in Finland. A true story of sporadic unshakeable dedication and glorious redemption...and courage. The Underdog clearly underscores the ideal: it's not whether you win or lose, it's how many fat guys you can yank by the g-string. A great read.
Adventurous and Funny February 5, 2006
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I think this book was funny and adventurous. My favorite part was the sumo wrestling. I recomend this book to parents and older kids.
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