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Tampa, Florida native Altman doesn't do anything in a small way, so readers will find this aptly named autobiography to be immensely entertaining. The titular eighteen tons refers to the biggest cannabis bust in Southeastern history (near Savannah, Georgia, in 1975). Engagingly detailed in one of the largest chapters in the book, Altman was duly rewarded with a one-year and one-day jail sentence that didn't seem to slow him down much.
The overall trajectory of Altman's life is akin to an ongoing Hunter Thompson escapade, though without quite as much literary panache. The episodic reminisces that Altman bills as a collection of autobiographical short stories (175 Clouds of Dust) are compelling, nonetheless. US Boomer generation readers will find much to relate to in terms of shared childhood and young adult scraps and scrapes. The difference is that Altman never really stopped living on the edge, even as his career choices and hobbies turned to legal pursuits such as B&B ownership, mountaineering, and running a scuba diving business.
The final approach of his golden years appears not to have stalled him either. Altman's wife of nearly forty years regards him as a one-of-a-kind renaissance man, and the fact is, the guy apparently can do just about anything he turns his mind to, whether cooking for B&B guests or figuring out how to save life and limb during a scuba trip gone sour in a storm on the Atlantic (the titular ninety-two hours). It takes a man with a big heart and a quick mind to deal with the life situations that Altman created and encountered. Gifted with the ability to squeak through perilous situations, Altman also, in turn, gifts readers with his ability to share his many escapades with sincere, down-to-earth humility. Altman tells it like it is and lets the chips fall where they may.