MAN OF THE YEAR
A Memoir by Lou Cove
"The kind of book readers fall in love with.” — Booklist, Starred Review
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"Hilarious & Poignant"
-- People
An Amazon best memoir of 2017
“A preposterous true tale about one little man's journey into adulthood"
-- Jill Soloway.
"An excellent document of a family existing during a groovy time in America’s history, during the post-hippie-pre-AIDS era, when the Vietnam war over and the country was finding itself. "
--BoingBoing
“This book is about a lot of things: fatherhood, religion, friendship, nostalgia and, of course, male nipples. It’s got something for everyone. And best of all, it’s told in Lou’s voice: funny, touching and compelling. Doesn’t even need a centerfold.”
―A.J. Jacobs, New York Times bestselling author of The Year of Living Biblically
"Hilarious, fun and surprisingly touching. You'll instantly fall in love with the Cove family and the surrounding cast of eccentric characters, right down to their smelly rabbit. Man of the Year has my vote."
―Dan Marshall, author of Home is Burning
"So warm and wonderful and crazy and laugh-out-loud funny that I read it all in one night, in a motel room, with a headlamp on. I knew the story would be great, and it is, but the writing itself is completely stunning."
―Catherine Newman, author of Catastrophic Happiness and Waiting For Birdy
“A classic coming-of-age story, beautifully written, consistently agreeable, and good-humored… the kind of book readers fall in love with.”
―Booklist, Starred Review
“What a ride! Imagine your life seen through the eyes of a 12 year-old boy. I was a Playgirl centerfold back then, a Mr. November, and my young buddy Lou Cove was gonna help me become . . . the PLAYGIRL MAN-OF-THE-YEAR! The book is all that . . . and so much more. It is a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1970’s and a family’s tribulations. Lou Cove has culled a story from a slice of life and told it masterfully.”
— Howie Gordon, author of HINDSIGHT: True Love & Mischief in the Golden Age or Porn
“Cove has a light touch and an eye for regional and temporal detail… Most who either recall or are curious about this free-loving period of history will find themselves satisfied by Cove's re-creation of his journey out of boyhood.”
―Kirkus Reviews
MAN OF THE YEAR
the story... (and the music)
"IN 1978 I SERVED AS 'CAMPAIGN MANAGER' FOR PLAYGIRL MAGAZINE'S MR. NOVEMBER 1978 IN HIS BID TO BECOME MAN OF THE YEAR 1979.IT WORKED, HE WON, AND I GOT TO SKIP MY BAR MITZVAH..."
A fish out of water
1978 promised to be another year of dislocation for twelve-year-old Louis Cove, the eighth move in his short life. His free-thinking Jewish family had just left New York and Zabar’s behind for working-class Salem, Massachusetts, a town not far evolved beyond the witch trials that made its name – hardly the place for a long-haired Mets fan on the cusp of his Bar Mitzvah. And that was before the arrival of Howie Gordon: actor, artist, hippie, lover, and Playgirl’s Mr. November, 1978.
Helping a hero
A one-time disciple of Lou’s father, Howie and his beautiful wife, Carly, arrive one October morning at the tail-end of a cross-country honeymoon, the whiff of California at their backs. Howie has Hollywood ambitions and a highly unorthodox idea for achieving them: be named Playgirl Man of the Year, 1979. When he enlists a besotted Lou as his “campaign manager,” the unlikely duo embarks on a quest to win the hearts and minds of the witches and wharf rats of Salem.
Becoming a man
Man of the Year is the improbable true story of Lou’s 13th year, one very unusual campaign and the unexpected guest that taught him how to be a man. A fresh twist on the coming-of-age memoir, yes, but also a tale of lost innocence, of Almost Famous giving way to Boogie Nights. As the campaign reaches its inevitable conclusion, darker problems surface, and Lou is forced to face up to the harsh afterglow of fame and some painful truths about growing up.
