Review of the book Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen

One of the advantages of working at a library is that it affords you the opportunity to peruse the stacks as you are searching for something that has been put on hold or shelving what has been returned.   During this Covid-19 curbside service that we have been offering there has been a lot of searching and shelving and therefore a significant amount of perusing. 

The other day I came across a book that I had not seen in a long time.  A book my mother saw to it that all her children had a copy of.  A book she felt for sure all of us would get a big kick out of.  She was right, especially as we turned to page six.  The book is Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man by Tim Allen. 

Most of you have probably heard of Mr. Allen from his television shows, “Home Improvement,” and “Last Man Standing”.   His movies have been quite popular as well, most notably the Santa Clause series and the Toy Story series, as the voice of Buzz Lightyear.  I also enjoyed “Galaxy Quest” and “Jungle 2 Jungle.”

Mr. Allen is a gifted comedian.  Starting as a stand-up comic in Michigan, like Jerry Seinfeld and Ray Milano, his talent has translated well to the small screen, but would it hold up in the print medium?  The answer to that is a simple “Yes.”  Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man is a very funny book, especially if you happen to be of the male species, although women should also get a chuckle out of his insights into “male-dom” since most if not all of them are…..true!  As I tell my fourteen-year-old daughter when she is befuddled by the behavior of her male counterparts in Middle School, “Boys are jerks for the most part.  Ignore them until they are forty.  At least then they will have matured enough to recognize when they are being jerky.”

I say “forty” because biblically speaking that is the beginning of wisdom.  And that is the age Tim Allen was when he wrote this book.  It was also the age when I began to recognize some actual wisdom on my own part.  At forty both Tim Allen and I had lived long enough to have something of value to say or write for others.  Before that we were both highly suspect.

Finally, as I said at the outset, I find this book personally humorous and at times poignant because of what Mr. Allen reveals on page six.  That his real last name is not Allen at all.  That is his middle name.  His real last name is the same as mine, Dick.  In that chapter he shares what it was like growing up a “Dick.”  All of which is funny and extremely relatable for me because I experienced all of it, and on occasion still do!  Like Mr. Timothy Allen Dick, it hasn’t always been easy having Dick as my last name.  And having the first name “Richard” did not help.  But like Tim I have come to appreciate the gift that our name has been.  It has contributed to making both Tim and me the “sagacious” men that we are.

If you like the humor of “Home Improvement” and “Last Man Standing”, you will enjoy Tim Allen Dick’s musings in Don’t Stand Too Close to a Naked Man.  But a word to the wise, that is parents, it IS for mature readers only.

Reviewed by Richard Dick, Library Assistant, O’Kelly Memorial Library