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Outside the box
Unique gifts for the men in your life REVIEWS BY MARTIN BRADY Men are more than just those guys who plunk down in front of the television set on any given football Sunday. Men are real-life warriors, too, and technicians who revel in machinery. They are also, with every passing day, more inclined to get in touch with their sensitive sides. So, yeah, if you can find a cool sports bio for your favorite man, go ahead and put it under the Christmas tree. That'll work fine. But special guys deserve special books, too, and they're sure to appreciate the extra thought that goes into creative gift giving. Our selection of new gift books for guys should do the trick. A few good men
By Peter Collier Artisan, $40 272 pages, ISBN 1579652409 Fast and furious
By Dennis Adler Random House, $75 352 pages, ISBN 0375502165 Men at work
By Sandor Nagyszalanczy Taunton, $19.95 288 pages, ISBN 1561585823 Shaping up
By author Health Communications, $12.95 195 pages, ISBN 0757301126 Want fries with that?
By Bob Mathews Andrews McMeel, $9.95 144 pages, ISBN 0740738518
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If ever a book captures men at their heroic best,
it's Medal of Honor: Portraits of Valor Beyond the Call of Duty. This volume, featuring text
by Peter Collier and the photography of Nick Del Calzo, offers profiles of 116 living Medal of Honor recipients, all men who served not
only with distinction—primarily as veterans of World War II, Korea and Vietnam—but also saved the lives of combat comrades and
very often suffered horrendous physical injury themselves. Each profile features a picture of the soldier as a young man, a contemporary
photo and a page of text offering basics about their service and the details of the brave acts that earned them their medals. There is
a breadth of noteworthy ethnic representation among this special group of men, including Hawaii Senator Daniel K. Inouye and other
Asian, African, Hispanic and Native Americans. Yet the bulk of the focus is on seemingly average, hearty "regular guys" from farms
and fields and small towns, who performed extraordinary acts in the heat of battle and miraculously lived to receive their nation's
recognition, gratitude and highest honor. Among the others profiled are Nebraska Senator Bob Kerrey, James B. Stockdale of
"Hanoi Hilton" fame, Sammy L. Davis (the real-life model for the exploits of the fictional Forrest Gump), and the remarkable
Jack H. Lucas, who earned his medal while enduring horrendous injuries on Iwo Jima at the ripe old age of 17. Adding additional
poignance to the book's overall impact, several of these heroes have passed away since the project was launched in 1999. Medal
of Honor is an elegant testimonial to the price of freedom.
For that car-enthusiast guy, Dennis Adler's Porsche: The Road from Zuffenhausen
serves as an example of distinguished book-making and automotive history at its detailed finest. Adler is a leading car journalist
and photographer. Besides serving as editor-in-chief of Car Collector magazine, he has contributed to high-profile business and auto
publications and written numerous books on all manner of car makes and models. Here he turns his attention to the fabulous Porsche and
the amazing family that has been producing this classic touring and racing car since the post-World War II era. Adler spares no verbiage
in his profiles of people—including paterfamilias Ferdinand Porsche, who designed the Volkswagen under the direction of Adolf Hitler
prior to launching the Porsche line—and in his narrative concerning the manufacturing and marketing of what is possibly the world's
most distinctive sports car. Rare archival photos of the Porsche in development (including technical views of its unique rear-mounted,
air-cooled engine), as portrayed in advertising, and in competition on international racetracks help to fully relate this ongoing success
story of commitment to automotive innovation and sleek stylishness.
While women are increasingly getting involved these days in do-it-yourself maintenance and repair, men are still the main
tool-wielders and fixer-uppers in the home and out in the garage. Sandor Nagyszalanczy's
The Homeowner's Ultimate Tool Guide: Choosing the Right Tool for Every Home Improvement Job
is a simply fabulous oversized paperback featuring striking color photos of, and detailed commentary on, every modern-day tool imaginable,
from carpentry, electrical, plumbing and automotive uses to drywall, demolition, painting and roofing uses. The author presents a bounty of
endlessly useful descriptions of tool types, subdivided by function (tools that grab, shape, shave, saw, snip, drill, pound, sharpen,
grind, measure and so on). The text is supplemented by valuable sidebars on safety, work tips for specific jobs, and additional details on
particular models of tools, including advice on when to rent for that irregular project versus making a purchase that will last a lifetime
of home improvements. The Homeowner's Ultimate Tool Guide would be a fabulous gift for that special guy who knows what he's doing around
the house and enjoys doing it with the utmost efficiency.
Yoga remains a popular pursuit for people of all ages, and veteran sportswriter and journalist John Capouya is among the committed
devotees. With his
Real Men Do Yoga: 21 Star Athletes Reveal Their Secrets for Strength, Flexibility and Peak
Performance, the author provides a readable and well-illustrated guide to yoga practice. The ostensible "guy hook" here comes by way
of testimonials from high-profile jocks such as Tennessee Titans running back Eddie George, New York Mets pitcher Al Leiter, all-star
forward Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves and many others, all of whom endorse yoga as a serious adjunct athletic regimen that
enhances flexibility, improves balance, helps prevent injury, increases breath support and relieves stress. "Regular" guys chime in as
well—truck drivers, restaurateurs, architects, etc.—giving witness to yoga's role in general fitness and mind-body awareness.
Besides a rundown of basic yoga poses and how to achieve them, the text also offers sport-by-sport workouts, material on meditation
(for the guy who strives to go "deeper within"), and a chapter on yoga's positive impact on one's sex life. Capouya's own New York
City-based yoga guru Michael Lechonczak serves as consultant to this earnest volume.
In a more whimsical vein comes Bob Mathews'
Chicks Dig Fries: A Guide for Clueless Men. This slim volume offers tips on how men
can win the affectionate approval of their female friends and lovers. Drawing on some apparently hard-won experience in the lost-love
department, TV executive Mathews delivers handy advice accompanied by his own cutesy color cartoons, one tidbit to a page. This stuff
hardly qualifies as even pop psychology—"Chicks dig . . . a guy who makes a big deal out of her birthday"; or,
"Chicks dig . . . a guy who will share the at-home work load." And yes, chicks dig chocolate and pillows and the gentlemanly touch
and cotton balls and potpourri and honesty. And a whole lot of other things. One gets the feeling that this lightweight but mildly
amusing primer might have been commissioned by a committee of manipulative women. At any rate, you can be sure that the book should
find its way into the Christmas stocking of many a (presumably clueless) guy. Ephemeral fun.