My Top 40 at 40: Making the First Half Count

In this entertaining nonfiction collection, voice-over artist Loya celebrates his 40th birthday with 40 wide-ranging tales from his own life. During his teens and early 20s, the author searched for the reclusive J.D. Salinger on his Dartmouth College campus, parlayed a family connection into an internship with Nike at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and joined Teach for America to help socio-economically disadvantaged first- and second-graders learn to read. In his late 20s he lost his prudishness and stuffed himself into a flimsy Speedo in a beach town near Rio de Janeiro, and hosted a pig roast%E2%80%94feasting on the animal's brains%E2%80%94after completing a triathlon in New Zealand. During his 30s, Loya celebrated a three-day James Bond theme wedding in Argentina, enjoyed an epic six-day, guided horseback crossing of the Andes, and partied with President Obama at the Southern Inaugural Ball. These stories present enthusiastic, energetic, heartfelt if pedestrian musings from a man in his prime who always tries to enjoy life to its fullest.