Edwards Cam - Heavy lifting : grow up, get a job, raise a family, and other manly advice

PRAISE FOR

Heavy Lifting

Finally! Just what we were waiting for: a couple of rightwing gun nuts who married above their station ask, What Would Ward Cleaver Do? The American family will never be the same.

JONAH GOLDBERG, senior editor of National Review and nationally syndicated columnist

Jim and Cam are, as this book shows, very funny. And their wit packs wisdom. In describing what a good father looks like, they tell readers how to be one, and why they might want be one. I certainly never expected Geraghty to perform a public service, and yet he has. I have to go lie down now.

PEGGY NOONAN, columnist for the Wall Street Journal and former speechwriter for Ronald Reagan

Tough problem. Fun reading! Geraghty and Edwards tackle rampant Peter Pan syndrome with fast-paced writing, goofy recollections, and plenty of self deprecation. Bottom line: growing up is not the end of life, folks, but the stuff of life! Suffused with gratitude for their own wives and children, the whole book is a heartfelt pep talk for young men whove gotten the message that taking the plunge means walking the plank. Come on in, the waters fine, say Geraghty and Edwards! Now, if theyd just take their own advice and move out of my basement...

MARY KATHARINE HAM, editor-at-large of Hot Air, contributing editor to Townhall Magazine, and Fox News contributor

We live in a time where growing up and becoming a real man is laughed at, but the authors of Heavy Lifting get it; its not our accomplishments in this life that become our defining moments, its what we pass on to our children. Being a father means leaving a legacy, and one that goes on long after we are gone.

STAFF SERGEANT CLINTON ROMESHA, U.S. Army (Ret.), Medal of Honor recipient

Boys, its time to man up. Heavy Lifting is a hilarious, sound advice book every man should have. Cam Edwards and Jim Geraghty prove that growing up and taking responsibility is not only awesome, but the best way to go through life. There comes a time to buy real clothes, learn life skills, hold your alcohol, properly date one woman at a time (and no, Tinder does not count), make serious commitments, and get a job that can turn into a career. That time is now. Dont fight the man, be the man, and for Gods sake, get your own place!

KATIE PAVLICH, Townhall.com editor and Fox News contributor

The thing about being a man that few will tell you, but that comes through like the Rocky theme in Heavy Lifting, is that being a real man is a hell of a good time. You get to be the man of the moment. The cando man. The man of action. The man who knows a drink should refine a man, but never define a man. There is a lot more to it, of course, but that is why Cam Edwards and Jim Geraghty wrote this book.

FRANK MINITER, author of the New York Times bestseller The Ultimate Mans Survival Guide

If ever a man was made better by marriage and fatherhood it was Jim Geraghty. He and his coauthor Cam Edwards prove that growing up, getting a job, and starting a family arent the beginning of your life, but really the end of it. Nowait. Other way around, right? Youll have to read the book to find out.

JAMES LILEKS, author, columnist, radio personality, and blogger at lileks.com

Heavy Lifting

Copyright 2015 by Jim Geraghty and Cam Edwards

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, website, or broadcast.

Regnery is a registered trademark of Salem Communications Holding Corporation

Cataloging-in-Publication data on file with the Library of Congress

ISBN 978-1-62157-445-3

Published in the United States by

Regnery Publishing

A Division of Salem Media Group

300 New Jersey Ave NW

Washington, DC 20001

www.Regnery.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Books are available in quantity for promotional or premium use. For information on discounts and terms, please visit our website: www.Regnery.com.

Distributed to the trade by

Perseus Distribution

250 West 57th Street

New York, NY 10107

To my sons,

You are my most important work.

Jim Geraghty, September 8, 2015

To E., for everything.

And to my children, with all my love.

Cam Edwards, September 8, 2015

CONTENTS

Meet Your Guides to Manhood

Jim Geraghty

Raconteur, man-about-the-house, father, journalist, world traveler. You can trust him.

Cam Edwards

A man with his own national radio show actually named after him (how cool is that!). Father of five, man-about-the-farm, armchair historian, and avid gun owneryou better trust him!

Ward Cleaver

Remember the sort of men who could fix anything (from a lawn mower to a martini), dress for success (and achieve it), never complain, make everything look effortless, marry a perfect wife, lead a moral life, and be a great dad? Thats Ward Cleaverhes not just a man, but the man and our ultimate channeled authority.

It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.

E. E. Cummings

Now that I have your attentionand your skeptical cacklinglet me tell you why.

Inevitably, when you make the assertion that Ward Cleaver was a studI know this from experiencepeople are going to accuse you of wanting to go back to the 1950s.

And thats not quite what Cam and I are advocating. Lets skip over all of the accusations that were archaic, stodgy curmudgeons with hopelessly outdated thinking and nostalgia masquerading as advice and ideas. If you really think were advocating for a return to docile housewives submitting to their husbands, you need to meet Mrs. Edwards and Mrs. Geraghty.

A loud corner of American culture has been rebelling against the image of the 1950s since, oh, the 1950s, so this marks our sixth or seventh decade of national cultural insurrection against the Ozzie-and-Harriet image of American suburban bliss. Its almost as if the rebellious counterculturewhich has been the mainstream culture for at least a decade or twoneeds the 1950s as an opponent to define itself in opposition.