SERIOUSLY, VOTE ... OR DIE Chuck, Huck (Photo: Getty Images)

Apparently Chuck Norris can't take a joke.

Mike Huckabee endorser and campaign trail pal Norris sued Penguin Group Friday over Ian Specter's The Truth About Chuck Norris, a satirical send-up which contains a number of left-handed myths about the mustached macho man actor, including: "A cobra once bit Chuck Norris' leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the cobra died ... Chuck Norris can impregnate women with only a glance. He can also do this to men ... When Chuck Norris breaks wind, it stays broken." An attorney for Norris claims the book is a lie (doy!), that parts are racist, and demands publication be halted and copies be taken off the shelf.

Oddly, Norris spoofed on the ideas in the book via his TV ad endorsing Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee in November. Huckabee, in a nod to the tough guy's bio, served up several similar Norris nuggets: "There's no chin behind Chuck Norris's beard, only another fist ... When Chuck Norris does a push-up, he isn't lifting himself up, he's pushing the earth down ... Chuck Norris doesn't endorse, he tells America how it's gonna be."

In a lawsuit filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Norris (real name Carlos Ray Norris) claimed he never authorized Penguin or its Gotham Books division to use his name, image, or likeness in connection with commercial sales of the book, which was published on Nov. 29. The lawsuit said Norris told Penguin it was not authorized to publish the book but the publisher rejected Norris' claims. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, a halt to publication, and a recall of the book.

According to reports, Huckabee has already shot other TV ads with Norris that are expected to air closer to Jan. 3, 2008, the date of the Iowa Caucus.

At post time, a Penguin Books spokesman could not be reached because of the company's holiday schedule. A Huckabee press rep did not return calls.