Something about the holiday season makes me want to unbuckle my safety goggles, rip off my bulletproof vest, and describe The Dangerous Book for Boys. This hardcover has been out since last May, yet it remains on the bestseller list. A short quote from the preface gives us a clear idea why:
In this age of video games and cell phones, there must still be a place for knots, tree houses, and stories of incredible courage.
Boys? Courage? Excellent. And since I am still in the mood to flirt with danger ... here goes.
Making a Go-Cart: The cart described in this chapter is similar, if drastically inferior, to the one that my father built for my two brothers a lifetime ago (see last week’s column, Dangerous Toys. Dangerous Joys). The similarity lies in the construction materials. Planks, ropes, fixed wheels of the sort that one might steal from a baby carriage, and various nuts and bolts. Also similar are the lack of safety features: No rollover bars. No windshields. No body armors. In fact, no body. The construction style is what my brother Chucky, survivor of my father’s go-cart, loving called a “suicide machine.”
Ah, youth!
What makes The Dangerous Book for Boys so enchanting, other than its subject matter, is the deliciously brutal style in which the contents are introduced. When describing how to create the central plank of the go-cart, for example, the authors state, “It really is a good idea to let an adult cut the wood for you, especially if power tools are involved. If you ignore this advice and cut off a finger, please do not sent it to us in the mail as proof.”
Isn’t that much nicer than a warning label? Aren’t you sick to death of warning labels? To tantalize you further, I will give you a few more excerpts.
