Boom! Welcome to Books & Biceps, the only newsletter for sophisticated meatheads where I share weekly book recs, author interviews, workout motivation, random sports stuff and more. Forwarded this email? Join 30,000+ other readers here.

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

I’ve read this book several times throughout my life, and I occasionally go back to certain sections because of how remarkable they are. I laugh even as I write this because I remember being assigned this book in college and hating it. I didn’t appreciate it. I found it confusing (the book has over a dozen narrators) and the themes completely escaped me. In short, I was too young and stupid to understand haha.

Now, when I revisit this book, especially as a father, different scenes/ideas catch my eye every time. But the one thing that remains consistent is the comical, frustrating, selfish and tragic ineffectiveness of Anse Bundren, the patriarch of the Bundren family, whose plight is the subject of the book.

As I Lay Dying came out nearly 100 years ago, in 1930, so just about everything in it feels unfamiliar in terms of environment, society, etc… It’s core, though, is as relatable today as anything you’ll read. It’s about marriage and fatherhood and raising children and community and grief and lying and loyalty and betrayal and almost the entire human condition. It’s also an adventure, of sorts, with the Bundren’s absurd attempt to travel with their deceased matriarch to another town to have her buried, as per her wishes.

Any one or two sentence summary of this book doesn’t do it justice. It’s not the kind of book you read because of a killer logline or tentpole idea. You just need to be patient and dive in and get to know Anse, Cash, Jewel, Dewie Dell and the rest of the crew. This book is also an Easter Egg of sorts for me, because it plays an important role in Bear Brawl.

Yes, my novel/thriller about a man who plots revenge against a rogue 500-pound black bear has a deep literary pedigree and tackles many of the same themes. I don’t want to ruin any of the plot, but in preparation for Brawl, if you read this, you’ll see me winking at you several times while I write. And it all makes sense. And it all works. And it’s a perfect emotional anchor for the hero of Brawl, the one-and-only, Brick Bridger.

Read As I Lay Dying here and make sure you pre-order Bear Brawl as well.

With old school bruising and battering fullbacks nearly non-existent in today’s NFL, you’ll have to be over 35 or so to truly appreciate one man: Mike Alstott.

In an era of Emmitt Smith and Barry Sanders and Marshall Faulk and Priest Holmes, there was one bruiser who you could count on to line up in front of the running back to punish dudes on defense: Alstott. He was also a hard runner who made six Pro Bowls back when those meant something. He was everyone’s favorite “hard nose” fullback. He was a punisher in pads and he was a beast.

I hadn’t thought about Alstott in a while until he showed up on my instagram feed and I was THRILLED to see that he’s still a beast. Look at this guy! He could step on the field right now and knock a linebacker on their ass. Love when ex-athletes take care of themselves and still look like studs in their 50s.

Fellas! If you’re a guy over 40 and you’ve been looking for a new digital magazine that’s written for midlife men, by midlife men, on the topics that actually matter to us: family, fitness, fashion, finance, food & fun, then join us at Midlife Male.

I’m the Editor-in-Chief and I write a column every Tuesday called The Manologue. This week, I shared my Official Midlife Man’s Guide to an Analog Summer, where I drop nine ways to unplug from the algorithm and bring back the kind of summer we grew up on. This piece has about 100k views on Twitter and within a day I got a dozen more suggestions to add, so I’ll probably be doing a Part II down the road. In the meantime, read this one. You’re guaranteed to pull at least three or four awesome ideas to have a throwback summer you’ll remember.

PRE-ORDERS are HUGE when it comes to launching a book. It gives book buyers and the media a sense of the level of anticipation and excitement for a book… Especially a debut thriller…

Don’t wait! Hit one of these pre-order links below and secure your copy ASAP!

You’ll still get all the cool giveaways we come out with as we get closer (bookmarks, book plates, special prizes)… Just screenshot your order.

GRAB YOUR COPY OF BEAR BRAWL:

I appreciate you reading Books & Biceps every week. This book is going to be our moment. Our time to show the publishing world that we want these books. We want Bear Brawl.

Every day, 4.5 million readers turn to 1440 for their factual news fix. We sift through 100+ sources to bring you a complete summary of politics, global events, business, and culture — all in a brief 5-minute email. No spin. No slant. Just clarity.

Join for free today!

Jon Finkel is the award-winning author of Macho Man: The Untamed, Unbelievable Life of Randy Savage, 1996: A Biography, Hoops Heist, The Life of Dad, Jocks In Chief, The Athlete, Heart Over Height, “Mean” Joe Greene and more. His books have been endorsed by everyone from Mark Cuban, John Cena and Tony Dungy to Spike Lee, Kevin Durant and Chef Robert Irvine. He has written for GQ, Men’s Health, Yahoo! Sports, The New York Times and has appeared on CBS: This Morning, Good Morning Texas, Good Morning Chicago, and hundreds of radio shows, podcasts and streams. Jon was recently profiled in The New Yorker about the awesome community he’s built around his Books & Biceps newsletter. They describe him as “a gym rat’s Reese Witherspoon”. Reply to this email for any media requests.

→ WANT TO BOOK THE TITLE SPONSORSHIP FOR JUNE???? Get in front of 29,000 awesome readers who focus on: reading, wellness, fitness, nutrition, entertainment, sports and more!

Previous sponsors include Nike, Random House, Netflix, Huel, HubSpot, SFH Nutrition, La Touraine Watches, Precision Skincare and more…

Download our media kit here:

→ Reply to this email for rates and availability.