Torontonian Christopher Lombardo and St. Catharines native Noel Boivin scoured the globe for true stories of boozy mischief and have compiled them into one hilarious (and at times painfully familiar) new book. The collection is divided into sections such as Work Is the Curse of the Drinking Class and The Mourning After with smaller subsections (Suits Gone Wild: When the Tie Is Loosened and So Are the Standards, and Chariots of Firewater: Drivers More Gassed than Their Modes of Transportation). An ambitious project, to be sure, and our authors have successfully turned out a true comedic gem. After all, it’s good to know that there are those out there who have topped even our most embarrassing drunken shenanigans.

In a story called Season’s Beatings, which the authors found in a U.K. newspaper in 2004, a hoard of 4000 Santas who had just finished a charity marathon were greeted at the finish line with hot toddies. The alcohol went straight to their heads, having been dehydrated from running in bulky red suits, and a riot soon broke out resulting in the lot of them getting pepper sprayed and clubbed by police. And that’s just the tip of the liquor-soaked iceberg. The Man Who Scared a Shark…serves up cautionary tales and makes for highly entertaining reading. It’s also an excellent gift for that special someone at the office who made a fool out of him or herself at the last Christmas party.

Cheers! – Amie Ronald-Morgan