Life of the Party: Stories of a Perpetual Man-Child

Bert Kreischer. St. Martin’s, $25.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-250-03025-2

Kreischer had just finished a massive bong hit when destiny struck in the form of a phone call. A reporter from Rolling Stone had heard he was the guy to show him why Florida State University, where Kreischer was then a student, was the country’s top party school. It was and he did, resulting in a cover story that would change his life. Stand-up comedy was a natural next step, and it turned out that his “up for anything” approach to life was good fodder for reality TV. With a “can you believe this?” tone that runs through this breezy memoir, Kreischer relates tales of booze-fueled evenings with Russian mobsters, hanging out with Will Smith (and getting a lucrative TV development deal in the process), and wrestling with a bear while feeding it marshmallows. Played a different way, these debauched tales could come off as crass or pathetic, but the author’s affability and self-deprecation only add to his charm, and the result is a genuinely hilarious look at life in the fast lane. Agent: Alyssa Reuben, Paradigm Entertainment. (May)