Funny Boy Versus the Bubble-Brained Barbers from the Big Bang (12 page)

Gutman and his sister Lucy in New York in 1956.

A young, stylish Gutman at home in Newark, New Jersey.

Gutman in his Little League uniform in 1968.

Gutman with two babies born in 1990:

the first baseball book he wrote, and his son, Sam.

Gutman in Liverpool, England, at the site of the real Strawberry Field. “I idolize the Beatles and they inspire all my books,” he says.

Gutman and his dentist at play (we hope).

Gutman in the midst of adoring fans at

Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville, Illinois.

When he’s not writing, Gutman’s busy with his favorite hobby, biking.

Gutman and his wife, Nina, at the spot where they met in 1982.

Gutman’s wife, Nina, with their children, Sam and Emma.

“After thirty years I made the
New York Times
bestseller list,” says Gutman, posing with the second book of the Genius Files, his hit series.

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2000 by Dan Gutman

Interior illustrations © 2000 by Mike Dietz

Cover illustration © 2012 by Mike Dietz

cover design by Mimi Bark

ISBN 978-1-4532-5954-2

This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA