Bar hopping with Tucker Max

On the long list of books on The New York Times' bestseller list there is a book about natural cures, one concerning a code formed by Leonardo DaVinci and one by a confessed sham. Also on that most prestigious of book list is an author whose stories are nothing if not funny and a little disturbing.

Tucker Max, a self-described "assh---," broke onto the list with his book I Hope They Serve Beer in Hell, an anthology of anecdotal stories about the author or friends of the author in situations that rival any National Lampoon's movie for their raunchiness and vulgarity.

Max, who's Web site (tuckermax.com) was his original forum for all things Tucker and boasts more than five million viewers a year, is currently traveling around the country promoting his best-seller.

The subject matter of most of the stories concerns either promiscuous sex or drunken activities that have left either Max or his friends embarrassed, reeling or laughing hysterically; but as Max's sales and visits to his Web site grow, it is obvious his particular lifestyle is one that people admire or at least enjoy reading about.

Max recently visited the Barnes & Noble bookstore at South Point mall in Durham for a book-signing and held an after-party at Chapel Hill's East End Martini Bar.

Max graduated from Duke University Law School before realizing his true-calling was in the publishing industry.

Technician caught up with Max and his friends at the bar to ask them about his success, his lifestyle and any tips he has for his college fan base.

Technician: When did you figure out there was a market for your life and your lifestyle?

Tucker Max: I don't know, dude. Honestly, I figured out when ... well the whole Web site started with e-mails from my friends. My friends are all pretty funny. I just put them up and I obviously didn't foresee all of this happening; I would be a liar if I said I had a master plan. I stumbled into this. I put them up and people just responded.

Technician: You started the Web site while at Duke?

TM: I put up the Web site when I was at Duke and I took it down when we all went to work at law firms.

Technician: When did you start this lifestyle?

TM: Dude, I've been that way my whole life. I've been a [expletive] assh--- and like, "I don't give a [expletive]," for about 10 or 20 years. You don't understand the Web site didn't make me. I made the Web site. I was Tucker Max before anyone knew who I was. I didn't do it for the Web site, I did it because it was fun.

Technician: Any idea it would get this big?

TM: I mean, once it got rolling I was like, "Yeah dude, I can be huge." But at first, nah. I had no [expletive] idea.

Technician: Any idea you would be making your money off this?

TM: I mean, once it got rolling I was like, "I can do this." At first it didn't occur to me.

Technician: Where do you see yourself in 10 years, still doing this?

TM: If I'm 40 years old hitting on 18-year-olds at college bars, it's going to be really [expletive] sad.

Technician: Who do you see as your biggest audience?

TM: My audience is like 16-45. But the ones [who] are really hardcore -- the ones [who] are like, "I worship this guy" -- are usually like 15-22. They are the ones who haven't done any of the stuff I've done and so they find it amazing. Once you start hitting 22, 24, 25 you start doing the things.

I haven't done anything that amazing; some of the [expletive] is funny but it's nothing that like ... we've all done the [expletive]. Those guys read it because they think it's funny.

But the older like ... 30, 31, 32 you start slowing in life and getting married, you read it because you remember when you used to do the [expletive].

Technician: What do you think of your fans?

TM: I can't say what I think of my fans as a group because they are a pretty diverse group. Not one statement defines them all. I don't know, they are all different types of people.

Technician: Besides being an assh---, how else would you describe yourself?

TM: I'm caring and empathetic. I don't know mother[expletive].

Technician: You have a law degree right? Are you going to do anything with that?

TM: I'm on the [expletive] New York Times' best-seller list. I don't understand why people ask, "What am I going to do with my life?"

Technician: Are you going to fall back on that?

TM: Why, I'm a star in my field -- a rising star in my field. It's not like I'm in college and I have to graduate at some point. The question doesn't make sense to me. Its like, "What are you going to do when you grow up?" That's [expletive]. I'm doing it.

Tucker Max's friend and character from the stories, SlingBlade, chimed in to talk about his friend.

SlingBlade: The best thing about Tucker is that he's not a hypocrite. He's a [expletive] assh---, but he admits it.

He's a [expletive] assh---, I'll tell you that, but he's not going to be like, "Uh I was drunk, I didn't mean to do that." He's like, "No, whatever this is who I am, this is what I do."

He's fun to hang out with.

Technician: What does your family think about what you do?

TM: (Sarcastically) My mom cries a lot. My dad kind of understands it, not a visceral level, just more like, "I see that he's making money, and he's not asking me for money so all right, whatever."

Technician: What about ex-girlfriends?

TM: I don't know. I mean some of them don't like it. Some of them think its funny, but if I'm not [expletive] them, then what do I care?