Author Interview

Gelf Magazine: Do only hippies play ultimate? If that isn't the case (and the film PCU was wrong), then how can ultimate break that stereotype?
Tony Leonardo: I've tried, and it's very difficult: Playing ultimate not stoned is almost impossible. It's like being in the NFL without steroids or playing tennis without an attitude. But the truth is you will see more tie-dyes at a Giants football game than at an ultimate tournament. Hippies are long gone and the younger kids bringing ultimate up tend to be more on the engineering side.
--read in full: Michael Gerber's Gelf Magazine interview with the author

Book Reviews

"Part how-to and part humor, this sports manual hits all the important parts of the game, like how much beer one can fit in a Frisbee, the act of sideline “depantsing,” and what hairstyles are A-OK for playing (“The full Jewfro is in, but a Half-fro is out”).
—Rod Lott, Oklahoma Gazette

"On my third pass through the book, I started to pick out specific topics and read them in a little more depth such as the profile of an Engineer Ultimate player. On each pass, I found reading the book very enjoyable, and for that reason I'm considering getting my own copy (instead of borrowing Norm's). Obviously, ultimate players will enjoy the book, but anyone else?

I think you should have the book to:
* have some copies of the book for your college team, and pass the copies around to rookies to give them a perspective of the game.
* put a copy in your washroom. The book is well suited to pick up and read in small little stints. Also, I think this is the perfect to introduce the sport to those not familiar with what we do.
* put a copy in your lobby. If you have a lobby in your line of work, then put a copy there to introduce the public to Ultimate.
* have a copy for road trips. The book has some trivia and topics that can only enhance an Ultimate trip.
-- PJ
Cultimate.com

"The first thought that occurred to me while reading the book was the striking resemblance between it and another book that I had given my brother a few years back, The Hipster Handbook by Robert Lanham. Both incisive cultural anthropologic studies of groups of people who take themselves a little too seriously and sometimes lack a sense of humor.

Simply put, the book is funny. Mr. Leonardo has some hysterical sections: the player archetypes, from the Permanent Grad Student to the Local Oldster; the progressive stages of hooking up, dating, and marriage amongst Ultimate players; the day in the life of a college player.
And it’s not just a hilarious look at the sport, it’s also fairly informative. With various introductory sections to the game on rules, skills, and training, as well as interspersed “Tips From The Experts,” the book serves as a nice preface to any beginner looking to start playing.
While the book might perpetuate myths and stereotypes about Ultimate and its practitioners, can you really fault the author if the myths and stereotypes are in fact true?"

-- Andy Lovseth
The-Huddle.org

[Author's note: the book is indeed based on The Hipster Handbook. My pitch to the publisher was, "It'll be like The Hipster Handbook but for Ultimate players! How can it fail." We bit off that book a lot in making this one, and in turn, The Hipster Handbook borrowed from the 1980 book The Original Preppy Handbook. As they say, everything has been done before.]

 
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