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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Ultimate Guide For The Avid Indoorsman" by John Driver.]

In this digital age — where an Apple is not a fruit, a tweet is not a sound birds make, and Bluetooth is not literally a tooth painted blue — the indoors is as much a place of wonder and peril as the Great Outdoors. Recognizing the pressing need to navigate, conquer, and master this space inside our doors, author and visionary John Driver eschewed the benefits of a steady income to craft The Ultimate Guide for the Avid Indoorsman.

Whether you’re a casual dabbler or an avid practitioner of Indoorsmanship, there is something in this exhaustively written guide that will speak to your circumstances. Here, you’ll learn the history of the Great Indoors, ascertain your level of Indoorsmanship, and read about every aspect of the Indoorsman’s lifestyle down to every microscopic detail. Indoor plumbing, shower etiquette, slipper history, and the philosophy of bearddom (a.k.a. growing facial hair for the indoors) all merit separate in-depth discussions. Driver also dispenses advice on grave matters of indoor living, like the loss of Wi-Fi, toilet paper outage, or how best to connect with those "little humans who share your name and your DNA” (a.k.a. your kids). You will need these, Driver will surely opine, for as he says, “The journey of a thousand megabytes produces a gigabyte.”

The book overflows with deadpan humor from the first to the last page. The blurb already got me chuckling with amusement and giddily looking forward to the rest of the book. After all, anything that contains a testimonial from “Oprah Winfrey…’s voicemail” should be a treat, right? For the most part, I wasn’t disappointed.

On the plus side, Driver deftly uses various elements to keep the discussion engaging. References to pop culture abound within the pages, like when Driver used the movie The Princess Bride to illustrate the nature of outdoor threats. I love the different nods to psychology, such as the possibly real disorder, clognitive dissonance (CD), which Driver describes as “a panicked state of consciousness” experienced by a perpetrator of a toilet clog. Driver’s alternative takes on history — like the alleged origin of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture, The Thinker — are also hilarious because ridiculous as they are, they do make a lot of sense. However, it is the juxtaposition of Driver’s serious, academic prose and the inherent silliness of his subject matter that I find endlessly amusing. His writing is nearly impeccable, with only a few negligible typographical errors.

Funny as he was, Driver’s brand of humor does become a bit stale with repetition. His routine of picking apart the most trivial thing down to the smallest inconsequential detail becomes less and less funny as the book progressed. His sweatpants style guide that tackles the pros and cons of drawstrings and pockets is, unfortunately, more tedious than entertaining.

For these reasons, I rate The Ultimate Guide for the Avid Indoorsman 3 out of 4 stars. If you’re a fan of comedy and satire or you’re just looking for a light, easy read, this book is for you. But even if this isn’t your usual genre, it might be worth checking out. What’s the worst that can happen? Either you enjoy the book or you acquire a “new overpriced rectangular coaster.” It’s a fair exchange, wouldn’t you say?

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The Ultimate Guide For The Avid Indoorsman
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A funny and relaxing read, sounds great. I'm not sure I am right, won't know until I read it, but Driver' s book reminds me of The Xenophobe's guide to... maybe it is the fact that he tries to identify and humorously describe a specific human category. Thank you for the review!

mihaela_bartha wrote: ↑22 Feb 2019, 02:54 A funny and relaxing read, sounds great. I'm not sure I am right, won't know until I read it, but Driver' s book reminds me of The Xenophobe's guide to... maybe it is the fact that he tries to identify and humorously describe a specific human category. Thank you for the review!

I'm not familiar with The Xenophobe's series, but looking at descriptions online, they do sound like fun! To some extent, I had fun with this book too. Thanks for dropping by!

In this digital age — where an Apple is not a fruit, a tweet is not a sound birds make, and Bluetooth is not literally a tooth painted blue — the indoors is as much a place of wonder and peril as the Great Outdoors

I love that sentence! This sounds like a fabulously entertaining book. I'm part indoorsman and part outdoorsman, and I could certainly use help in the technology department. I'll try it! Thanks.

I had to laugh when I saw the title. This is so me. I think the sarcasm would really entertain me. Thanks.

This book sounds absolutely hilarious. The title already had grabbed me, but your summary convinced me it was as funny as it sounded (even if it eventually gets tedious). I think I'll add this to my reading list. Thanks for the review!

kandscreeley wrote: ↑22 Feb 2019, 09:16
I love that sentence! This sounds like a fabulously entertaining book. I'm part indoorsman and part outdoorsman, and I could certainly use help in the technology department. I'll try it! Thanks.

Thanks! You have got to try the author's Indooreagram. It will classify where you stand within the continuum of Avid Outdoorsman to Avid Indoorsman. Here's a sample item that really made me laugh (but I had to cut from the review to make it more concise):

Q: Which of the following would most likely evoke a scream from you?

A. A dance around the fire as you eat the wild badger you just killed with your bare hands
B. An intruder in your home
C. A fender bender
D. A power outage
E. A Netflix malfunction on the night of a season finale.

Thanks for dropping by!

teacherjh wrote: ↑22 Feb 2019, 11:58 I had to laugh when I saw the title. This is so me. I think the sarcasm would really entertain me. Thanks.

Thanks for your comment! It does sound like you'd like the book!

PGreen wrote: ↑22 Feb 2019, 13:12 This book sounds absolutely hilarious. The title already had grabbed me, but your summary convinced me it was as funny as it sounded (even if it eventually gets tedious). I think I'll add this to my reading list. Thanks for the review!

It is! Thanks for your comment!

Your review just got me curious about this book, well done. I hope I get to read it soon.

Mantha1 wrote: ↑23 Feb 2019, 14:50 Your review just got me curious about this book, well done. I hope I get to read it soon.

Thanks for the comment!

Oh, I love the way you wrote this review. Your first sentence grabbed me! So right with how our language is becoming more and more divorced from the natural elements we take the words from. (Although now I’m wondering where the name Bluetooth came from anyway!) It seems to suit this humorous book well. Thanks for the review.

This sounds like a light and hilarious read! I absolutely loved your introduction - I can definitely imagine how people from not from our generation being confused over terms like "bluetooth" and "wifi". Thanks for the lovely review!

P.S. "The journey of a thousand megabytes produces a gigabyte." - this had me cackling so hard!

BelleReadsNietzsche wrote: ↑26 Feb 2019, 09:15 Oh, I love the way you wrote this review. Your first sentence grabbed me! So right with how our language is becoming more and more divorced from the natural elements we take the words from. (Although now I’m wondering where the name Bluetooth came from anyway!) It seems to suit this humorous book well. Thanks for the review.

Thank you! I really enjoyed this one.

gen_g wrote: ↑26 Feb 2019, 10:17 This sounds like a light and hilarious read! I absolutely loved your introduction - I can definitely imagine how people from not from our generation being confused over terms like "bluetooth" and "wifi". Thanks for the lovely review!

P.S. "The journey of a thousand megabytes produces a gigabyte." - this had me cackling so hard!

The author did note that an Avid Outdoorsman "may pronounce Wi-Fi as Wee-fee"!

What a fun review you have written! I was cracking up. While I do dabble in the outdoors, I can relate to the satire on indoorsmanship. I do panic at the thought of a wee-fee outage! Thanks for the great review.

Eva Darrington wrote: ↑28 Feb 2019, 01:16 What a fun review you have written! I was cracking up. While I do dabble in the outdoors, I can relate to the satire on indoorsmanship. I do panic at the thought of a wee-fee outage! Thanks for the great review.

It is a fun book. And me too. When the internet goes, so does a part of my sanity. Thanks for dropping by!

This book sounds wonderful for a rainy day indoors! Your writing style highlights its pros and cons of this book in such an eloquent and easy to read way that hints at the humor I'll apparently find within its pages! Thanks for your review and I'll be keeping an eye out for this book!