How I Lost 5 Pounds in 6 Years

Book excerpt: You thought you knew him - from Roseanne, movies like True Lies, and now his hot seat hosting Fox Sports' hit show "The Best Damn Sports Show Period." But the face he puts forth on camera is a mere part of the true Tom Arnold - also known for deciding one night in his early 20s to streak through his small Iowa town. Young Tom didn't think it was such a blast by the end of the evening, though, when he ended up naked in the drunk tank, forced to call in "sick" to his job at Hormel, where his duties included pulling fat off hog ribs and shooting in the head pigs that couldn't make it up the electrocution conveyor. When his boss found out why he had really missed work, Tom got fired, leading his grandmother to remark, "that's a shame. That was the best job you'll ever have." Fortunately, grandmom was wrong and Tom went on to better jobs, among them roles in the movies Hero, Nine Months and Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery. He has had his own 3-part HBO special, "Tom Arnold: The Naked Truth," was a writer, actor and executive producer of the acclaimed show "Roseanne," and starred in 3 television shows of his own, "The Jackie Thomas Show," "Tom," and "The Tom Show." From his midwest upbringing to his early days in comedy clubs to his successes and failures in love and Hollywood, Tom is by turns endearingly self-deprecating and brutally honest about his past. Cocaine addiction, weight problems, and his most famous relationship merit full disclosure in what is THE BEST DAMN AUTOBIOGRAPHY PERIOD!