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The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions
Joshua Davis dreams like most guys. He wants a fun career, exciting adventures, a happy wife who’s proud of him, and really big muscles that strangers can’t help but admire. Too bad he’s a 129-pound data entry clerk whose wife, Tara, has only three simple requests for their life direct sunlight, a dining room, and a bathtub.
Since none of these exist in their 250-square-foot San Francisco apartment, Josh sets off on a quest to become the provider his wife wants him to be. The problem is that he does it in a way that most people in their right minds would never he enters the most grueling and unusal contests in the world.
In The Underdog , what begins as a means to get Tara her bathtub evolves into a charming story of courage, adventure, and just a little bit of insanity. On the heels of a fourth-place finish (out of four contestants) in the lightweight division of the U.S. National Armwrestling Championships, Josh gets a spot on Team USA and travels to Poland to face “The Russian Ripper” in the World Championships–and Tara finds herself wishing her husband would go back to data entry. Unfortunately for her, he’s just getting started.
Over the next two years, Josh ventures to Spain to try his hand at bullfighting, sumo-wrestles 500-pound men, perfects his backward running in India and at the Golden Shrimp “retrorunning” race in Italy, and bonds with his family at the Sauna World Championships–because sometimes it takes a blistering 220-degree sauna to bring loved ones together.
By turns hilarious, harrowing, and inspiring, The Underdog documents one man’s ballsy attempt to live the American dream to the extreme.
Since none of these exist in their 250-square-foot San Francisco apartment, Josh sets off on a quest to become the provider his wife wants him to be. The problem is that he does it in a way that most people in their right minds would never he enters the most grueling and unusal contests in the world.
In The Underdog , what begins as a means to get Tara her bathtub evolves into a charming story of courage, adventure, and just a little bit of insanity. On the heels of a fourth-place finish (out of four contestants) in the lightweight division of the U.S. National Armwrestling Championships, Josh gets a spot on Team USA and travels to Poland to face “The Russian Ripper” in the World Championships–and Tara finds herself wishing her husband would go back to data entry. Unfortunately for her, he’s just getting started.
Over the next two years, Josh ventures to Spain to try his hand at bullfighting, sumo-wrestles 500-pound men, perfects his backward running in India and at the Golden Shrimp “retrorunning” race in Italy, and bonds with his family at the Sauna World Championships–because sometimes it takes a blistering 220-degree sauna to bring loved ones together.
By turns hilarious, harrowing, and inspiring, The Underdog documents one man’s ballsy attempt to live the American dream to the extreme.
- GenresNonfictionAdventureHumor
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 6, 2005
2 people are currently reading
49 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Davis
70 books42 followersJoshua Davis is an American writer, film producer and co-founder of Epic Magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 16, 2008
The author is not as amusing as he thinks he is.
September 21, 2017
Funny ,amusing and deeply personal especially in the last chapter.
September 10, 2007
A tremendously fun read by SF local writer Joshua Davis attempts to win contests he is dreadfully outmatched for. His desirer to be a provider and adventure in the eyes of his wife, this 130lbs data entry clerk joins the US National Arm Wrestling Team, trys his hand at bullfighting in Spain, sumo-wrestle a 500 lbs man, seeks the advice of a renowned backward runner in India, and convinces his family to enter in the Finish Sauna World Championship. Extremely funny and awe-inspiring.
November 14, 2023
" We improve ourselves by victories over ourself. There must be contests, and you must win." This quote by Edward Gibbon opens Joshua Davis' memoir, The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions.
Davis also wrote, Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream which is one of my all-time favorite books. The movie, Spare Parts, is based on this book. Tomorrow our book club is discussing Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, so I wanted to read Davis' memoir, The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions as part of the preparation for the book club discussion.
Davis' mother won Miss Nevada and entered the Miss USA contest in 1962 at age nineteen. She was a semi-finalist and then finished as the fourth runner up. This defeat stayed with her for the rest of her life. She raised Davis as a single mom for several years and pinned her hopes that he would discover his strength and passion through winning competitions. He didn't win any contests.
As an adult, Davis continued his quest to discover his strengths. He competed in an arm wrestling championship in Poland, became a bullfighter in Mexico, as a 138 pound Sumo wrestler he fought a 460 pound competitor, and he learned the sport of walking backwards.
Along the way, he was a journalist and contributing editor for WIRED magazine. Now I understand why the robotic championship fascinated him and led to writing Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream. In 2012, he was kidnapped while covering events in Libya. Later that same year, he lived with John McAfee and documented McAfee's life. Davis has also written articles about Elon Musk. Davis cofounded EPIC magazine that shares true, unique stories.
Davis storytelling is terrific and he uses candid humor about his life. I enjoyed Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream more than The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions because of the four protagonists who built Stinky, the robot that beat the team from M.I.T.
Davis also wrote, Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream which is one of my all-time favorite books. The movie, Spare Parts, is based on this book. Tomorrow our book club is discussing Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream, so I wanted to read Davis' memoir, The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions as part of the preparation for the book club discussion.
Davis' mother won Miss Nevada and entered the Miss USA contest in 1962 at age nineteen. She was a semi-finalist and then finished as the fourth runner up. This defeat stayed with her for the rest of her life. She raised Davis as a single mom for several years and pinned her hopes that he would discover his strength and passion through winning competitions. He didn't win any contests.
As an adult, Davis continued his quest to discover his strengths. He competed in an arm wrestling championship in Poland, became a bullfighter in Mexico, as a 138 pound Sumo wrestler he fought a 460 pound competitor, and he learned the sport of walking backwards.
Along the way, he was a journalist and contributing editor for WIRED magazine. Now I understand why the robotic championship fascinated him and led to writing Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream. In 2012, he was kidnapped while covering events in Libya. Later that same year, he lived with John McAfee and documented McAfee's life. Davis has also written articles about Elon Musk. Davis cofounded EPIC magazine that shares true, unique stories.
Davis storytelling is terrific and he uses candid humor about his life. I enjoyed Spare Parts: Four Undocumented Teenagers, One Ugly Robot, and the Battle for the American Dream more than The Underdog: How I Survived the World's Most Outlandish Competitions because of the four protagonists who built Stinky, the robot that beat the team from M.I.T.
December 28, 2018
As gentle and entertaining as it looked on the shelf.
March 15, 2020
Good light read.
May 2, 2020
The Underdog is another book which fits into the 'author undertakes oddball tasks and writes them up in a humorous style' genre popularised by the likes of Dave Gorman and Tony Hawks. Unlike books by the latter authors which were built around a single theme, this one sees Davis undertaking several unrelated challenges over 5 different chapters ranging from arm-wrestling to a sauna challenge which took place in Finland and was a great deal more arduous than it sounds.
It was an amusing, fun book to read but not generally hilarious although there were a couple of laugh out loud moments. Occasionally Davis sounds as if he is really straining to find a comic aspect in his description of events. The book also had the odd more thoughtful section where the background to the reason for doing the tasks was explained. The author usually writes articles for Wired magazine and each chapter had a similar feel to the sort of pieces you would find in such a publication, though in this case the book did benefit from the author's running commentary on how his mission to undertake the challenges affected his relationship with his partner.
My favourite chapter was the one on Sumo which found Davis assisted by legendary champion Maru. The Hawaiian star was used to being virtually deified by fans so enjoyed the easy relationship he struck up with Davis which was quite touching. This section was illustrated with a hilarious photograph of the two together with man mountain Maru in the foreground dominating the frame and the author, who resembles an artist's model for 'American Gothic' behind him.
The concluding chapter felt a little rushed and I would have liked to have read more on how the experience affected Davis personally but overall this was a good choice for a light read.
It was an amusing, fun book to read but not generally hilarious although there were a couple of laugh out loud moments. Occasionally Davis sounds as if he is really straining to find a comic aspect in his description of events. The book also had the odd more thoughtful section where the background to the reason for doing the tasks was explained. The author usually writes articles for Wired magazine and each chapter had a similar feel to the sort of pieces you would find in such a publication, though in this case the book did benefit from the author's running commentary on how his mission to undertake the challenges affected his relationship with his partner.
My favourite chapter was the one on Sumo which found Davis assisted by legendary champion Maru. The Hawaiian star was used to being virtually deified by fans so enjoyed the easy relationship he struck up with Davis which was quite touching. This section was illustrated with a hilarious photograph of the two together with man mountain Maru in the foreground dominating the frame and the author, who resembles an artist's model for 'American Gothic' behind him.
The concluding chapter felt a little rushed and I would have liked to have read more on how the experience affected Davis personally but overall this was a good choice for a light read.
August 29, 2008
I wasn't sure what to expect. I read it in two days, and found myself laughing out loud. I found the best part to be his description of becoming a 128 lb sumo wrestler, and being surrounded by "man fat" as he plowed into his opponent. There's a photo of a race, but everybody seems to be looking behind them. I couldn't figure it out until I started reading the chapter, that Mr. Davis decided to take up backwards running. It's amazing the feats he attempts to conquer, in his quest for a fulfilled, exciting life.
"The Underdog" is "What Color is Your Parachute" for an aging Gen-X, who want to feel unique and fulfilled, but have no idea how to do it. I recommend this book, not just for being well-written and enjoyable, but also for touching on how scary it is to grow up, take on adult responsibilities, and live up to the expectations of the family, partner, and self. Mr. Davis' self-deprecating humor is charming, and I found myself rooting for him. Maybe he would be a great matador, maybe he would win the Finnish sauna contest, maybe he would be happy with his life and find satisfaction with the mundane as well as the fantastic. Maybe.
"The Underdog" is "What Color is Your Parachute" for an aging Gen-X, who want to feel unique and fulfilled, but have no idea how to do it. I recommend this book, not just for being well-written and enjoyable, but also for touching on how scary it is to grow up, take on adult responsibilities, and live up to the expectations of the family, partner, and self. Mr. Davis' self-deprecating humor is charming, and I found myself rooting for him. Maybe he would be a great matador, maybe he would win the Finnish sauna contest, maybe he would be happy with his life and find satisfaction with the mundane as well as the fantastic. Maybe.
August 10, 2016
While I laughed at the antics of protagonist and author Joshua Davis at regular intervals, I have to admit that I was happy to finish this book. It was often painful to vicariously experience his escapades. He competed in a number of venues including professional arm wrestling, bull-fighting, backwards running, sauna sitting and sumo wrestling. While trying to find himself, he managed to make a good many new friends and was very fortunate not to suffer any major debilitating bodily injuries. In spite of himself, he finds success in a new and rather unexpected way.
November 29, 2008
For this kind of book, I would recommend "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE" which is a similar exploration of the lesser-known hobbies of the world. This is sports, the other is hobbies. This one looks more at the author exploring all of them, the other looks more at the people who do it as a passion. This was OK.
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September 10, 2008How come there isn't a shelf for "started reading, but never finished?" This book would go there. I just couldn't keep it up...but that doesn't mean it was bad. It just didn't grab me at the time. I'll pick it up another time.
January 6, 2008
This book inspired me to live a bit wilder and more free. Plus it was highly entertaining, funny and even once in a while, thought-provoking.
September 3, 2007
Fairly funny, quite insightful story of one person's struggle to find out what he was meant for in life. Something that I related to, and helped me to laugh at myself a bit, too.
May 30, 2008
couldn't stop laughing. Joshua Davis never disappoints in his Wired articles or this book.
September 1, 2008
this is a fun read, perfect for any form of transportation.
April 15, 2013
Funny but not engaging enough for me to finish it.
July 15, 2016
it's a funny and hilarious book, i laughed very much, and my favourite chapter is BULL FIGHTING.
January 7, 2008
Funny guy. The beginning had me in tears with laughter. A quick and fun read.
April 27, 2010
Very, very funny! A quick, zany read.
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February 6, 2019Very funny. Enjoyed it very much.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews