Here's an item idea lifted from Femme...
There's an item there on feminist lit and arts.  My question is,
what's out there of quality for men?  I know of a few books, but
I was wondering what y'all had run across.  The deeper question:
should men *have* a defined gender-specific lit/arts?  I know
many feminists who would say no... but then I've had bad experiences
with "feminists".
Opinions?  References?

13 responses total.

I am so ignorant on Literature and Arts that it is an embarrassment; however,
I do note that my wife and I do not read the same books.  She always points
out that I only read things that are "action."  I don't know if this is fair
criticism or not, but some of the books she finds "great" seem to leave me
cold.  In addition to reading, I listen to books on tape because of 2 hrs per
day driving.  I have yet to find a title that didn't excite me.  I know I
would have stopped reading a lot of these about 50 pages in.  

I have found the same things with my wife and I Marc...The things I read tend
to be all fictional.  The books that my wife read all tend to be true stroies
or bios...Hmmmmm...maybe there is something there?

This response has been erased.

I tend to get on one author and stay with him (funny, no women authors so far)
until I exhaust everything he's written.  Then go into a lull until I get the
next "hot" one.  Some of the "hot" ones for me:  Tom Clancy, Leon Uris, Scott
Turow, John LeCarre, Steven King, Dean Koontz, (oh yes, I did read Shirley
Jackson), Mario Puzo . . .. .

Also, I have read most of Michner - just starting Alaska.  The start is
fantastic,  even though it is Michener's standard formula for a beginning.

This response has been erased.

Hmmm "men and women" so different yet so alike.  I do much the same Marc. 
Most of the fictional stuff I read is based on the spirit world.  Good spirits
vs. Bad spirits.  All have a truth about them.  I did however read a book
within the last year for the second time called the "Illuminati"  This book
was about a secret society within our goverment that dated back the the
druids.

Ok so I hit the control-d too soon.  I find that my wife and I enjoy much the
same theatre and movies though.  I dont know how we could compare that to
books though.  Maybe its just because I enjoy a good movie I can sit down too
and cry like a baby.  

In fiction, the authors I read tend to be males, but that's not a
determining factor.  Recent reading materials include Dorothy Parker
and Sharyn McCrumb, for instance.
Movies are about the only place where Valerie and I pattern like 
the stereotype... she tends to prefer romantic comedies (A Room with
a View -- well that's not a comedy, 4 Weddings, French Kiss) but she
also likes vampire movies and action/adventure.  I tend to prefer
horror and brooding intellectualism... except keep Fellini away from
me!  Eeep!
All the same, there's only a few movies that only one of us likes...

I like adventure stories written for boys, and lately I've read a lot of these
by Robert Heinlein.  

A lot of pulp fiction--although not specifically labeled as
"for men"--seems to appeal mostly to men. I'm thinking of
action adventures featuring action-oriented male heroes--
soldiers of fortune, private detectives, intelligence
agents.
   A lot of it is trash, but there's some quality work as well.
A couple of authors who were popular when I was reading such
stuff were John D. Macdonald (the Travis McGee series) and
Donald Hamilton (the Matt Helm series). I didn't care for
Hamilton at all--right-wing "the only good commie is a dead
commie" attitudes used to excuse or justify some pretty
sickening violence. Macdonald, on the other hand, is a humane
and sensitive writer whose Travis McGee character is quite
likeable. His books are generally pretty well written, my main
objection being that they tend to be formulistic and get
predictable after a while.
   A couple of fine earlier writers of the "hardboiled" school
were Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett. Much of their stuff
is really quite good, e.g. check out Chandler's "The Big Sleep"
sometime. Probably most of Chandler's and Hammett's writing
appeals mainly to men, though.

        Hmmm I think I think most writing is gendered but I tend to read
in a fairly balenced way gender wise.  For example some of my favorite
writers include Anias Nin, Annie Dillard, Italo Calvino, Philip K. Dick,
etc.  Some writers do try to purposely transgress gender lines some quite
succesfully Jeanette Winterson & Cathy Acker come to mind.
        Maybe to more fully answer the question and generate some
controversy (flame proof suit on) I will say that I think there are
gendered ways of writing that aren't tied to biologicaly determined sex.
Female writing is intuitive, non-linear, psychological, sensual,
emotional, centered around human relationships, lyrical.  Male writing is
technical, precise, oriented towards problem solving, plot & action
oriented, may focus more on machines/magic than people/sentient beings. I
would say I tend to like female writing more than male writing even when
it's writen by men.  Some examples of men who write in a "female" way
would include IMO Calvino in his book "Invisible Cities", Allen Ginsburg,
P.K. Dick (sometimes) & William Blake.

I read a good blend of men and women in various genres.  An awful lot of my
favorite SF/F writers seem to be women:  Sheri Tepper, Connie Willis, Ursula
LeGuin, Barbara Hambly, Robin McKinley, Tanith Lee, Cynthea Felice, Janny
Wurts, Sydney Van Scyoc and Joan Vinge.  But many of the male writers I like
don't write stereotypical "guy" books.  For instance, Sean Stewart, Barry
Hughart, Norman Spinrad, Terry Pratchet, and David Brin all write stuff that
is usually pretty far from the "guy book" stereotype.

On the other hand, I do enjoy some stereotypical "guy" books, like the
recent series by S. Andrew Swann and David Weber, or Timothy Zahn's books.
They are full of lone heros battling the enemy against terrible odds, but,
hey, they are fun.  Interestingly, I think Lois McMaster Bujold falls right
into this catagory, though she appears to be female.

In the mystery genre, I see much the same thing.  I like Dick Francis,
though he as perfect an example of a "guy book" writer as you could find.
He lone guy heros always go it alone, they always get injured but hardly
ever go to a doctor (if they happen to be unconscious, some well-meaning
passer-by sometimes carts them off to intensive care, but they always
slip out of the hospital the instant the doctor's back is turned).  They
never go to the police.  They always win.  Francis is a bit of a formula
writer, but he always livens things up his horse stroies with some fresh
research into wine-growing or hand-woven fabrics or whatever caught his
interest while he was writing the book.  I don't think anyone else except
P.G. Wodehouse has written as many books of as uniform quality.

But also in the mystery genre, I'm a big fan of Ellis Peter's "Brother
Cadfael" series, whose shining characteristic is their deep humaneness.

I guess the things I call "guy books" actually make me a bit uncomfortable,
but I like them anyway.

Robert E. Howard, esp. his Conan the Barbarian stories.

Response not possible - You must register and login before posting.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss