Unable to get pregnant like Tina Fey, male author sacrifices hair to publicize his funny book

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Haven, Connecticut, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) April 16, 2011 -- When Tina Fey was on the Oprah Winfrey Show and announced that she was pregnant, a cynical gossip columnist for the New York Daily News wrote that she was engaged in “one of the oldest publicity clichés in the fame playbook” to promote her new memoir, "Bossypants."

Just like Ms. Fey, bestselling author Michael N. Marcus has a funny memoir to promote. But unlike her, he is not pregnant and is unlikely to become so.

With so many books and authors needing to stand out, Marcus had his head shaved and his full beard reduced to a goatee on his recent 65th birthday.

Marcus’s "Stories I’d Tell My Children (but maybe not until they’re adults)," is mostly humorous—and sometimes poignant and profound—and includes more than 100 stories covering 55 years. According to the author, “the book has plenty of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll, and four murders.”

One story is about Marcus being sent home from high school to shave off a beginner’s beard he grew while out sick with mononucleosis—“the kissing disease.”

Some stories in the book were written as delayed revenge against bad teachers, evil bosses and crazy clients. There are stories about weird relatives, weird food, women the author considered marrying, and the woman he did marry. Readers will even learn what his wife had to do in bed to defeat the competition.

"Stories I’d Tell My Children (but maybe not until they’re adults)" has been compared to both “Animal House” and “Porky’s,” and called a male version of Sarah Silverman’s "The Bedwetter." It was awarded the highest five-star rating by the Midwest Book Review, which said it is “a thoughtful and fun read, highly recommended."

Although Marcus is a first-year baby-boomer who grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, "This book provides a hilarious look at life for people of all ages who want to roll on the floor, laughing until the tears come," according to a reviewer. Another reviewer said, "This book is so funny that I nearly peed in my pants. My girlfriend didn't think it was funny, so I got a new girlfriend."

In addition to laughter, the book provides an education. One chapter can help women understand the male fascination with farts and breasts. Another explains how Betty Friedan and Anthony Quinn made 1965 much sexier than 1964.

Other chapters explain the difference between New York and Connecticut mommies, the connection between Sigmund Freud and Groucho Marx, how baseball can be child abuse, how oral sex can be dangerous, what boys don’t know about jockstraps and childbirth, how a platinum American Express card is just as good as a Medicaid card, the meaning of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida," the disgusting secret ingredients in the world's greatest coleslaw, how a free dog can cost $100,000, and how the author conducted a test to determine if he attracted crazy women or drove women crazy.

Silver Sands Books first published "Stories I’d Tell My Children (but maybe not until they’re adults)" as a paperback. In April, 2011 it became available in multiple eBook formats, priced below five dollars. Because of reader requests for a gift edition, it will soon be sold as a hardcover, too. The book is available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other booksellers.

(Note to reviewers and journalists: review copies are available from the publisher.)

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