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Daytona Teddy Riggs
Not yet published
Expected 25 Aug 26Set in mid-nineties South Texas, Daytona Teddy Riggs follows a has-been high school football star on his quest to become the World’s Strongest Man.
It’s 1996 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Teddy Riggs—call him Daytona—will stop at nothing to win the World’s Strongest Man competition. He spends his days training and downing as many calories as possible. Outcast from his oil-rich family, his main companion is a tape set by self-help guru Pat Dupree that he plays on repeat.
When a Dupree seminar is set to take place in Houston just before a regional qualifying event, Teddy knows the universe is aligning in his favor. But as the seminar approaches, a new relationship with Tammy, a local bodybuilder, brings all his crushing insecurities to the forefront, and he must confront who he really is beneath the muscles.
At once an outrageous comedy, a biting satire of the self-help industry, and an earnest look at the facets of obsession, Buxton’s riotous debut novel chronicles how masculinity, privilege, and mental illness intersect.
It’s 1996 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Teddy Riggs—call him Daytona—will stop at nothing to win the World’s Strongest Man competition. He spends his days training and downing as many calories as possible. Outcast from his oil-rich family, his main companion is a tape set by self-help guru Pat Dupree that he plays on repeat.
When a Dupree seminar is set to take place in Houston just before a regional qualifying event, Teddy knows the universe is aligning in his favor. But as the seminar approaches, a new relationship with Tammy, a local bodybuilder, brings all his crushing insecurities to the forefront, and he must confront who he really is beneath the muscles.
At once an outrageous comedy, a biting satire of the self-help industry, and an earnest look at the facets of obsession, Buxton’s riotous debut novel chronicles how masculinity, privilege, and mental illness intersect.
224 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication August 25, 2026
2 people are currently reading
15 people want to read
About the author
Drew Buxton
3 books14 followersDrew Buxton is a writer from Texas. His short story collection So Much Heart won the 2024 Sergio Troncoso Award for First Book of Fiction. His work has been featured in Southwest Review, Joyland, The Drift, and Vice among other publications. His first novel Daytona Teddy Riggs will be published by Hub City Press in 2026.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I had the pleasure of watching this book come into focus, and having read the finished product more than once, I feel uniquely qualified to sing its praises. Teddy is unlike any narrator I’ve ever come across. He’s a former football star and wannabe strongman, of course, but his neuroses and unassuming way of looking at the world are endearing and truly funny—I found myself shaking my head at him just as many times as I found myself actually laughing out loud. Buxton skillfully immerses his reader in the world of 1990s South Texas—a land of HEB, Whataburger, and self-help lectures on cassette tape—and seems to have as much fun rendering this landscape as Teddy has inhabiting it. Amid the Oakleys and deadlifts and pizza buffets, though, lies is a sideways sort of cultural critique that stuck with me long after the Pat Dupree seminar came to a close. Daytona Teddy Riggs is written in the same quirky, retro vein as Buxton’s short story collection, but I was happy to spend a little more time with one of his characteristically offbeat narrators, and I can’t wait to see what he has in store next.
Review of advance copy received from Author
He did it again!
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Fun! Sort of a "dudes rock" read
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews