Brendan’s Alternate Tagline for American Men:
If I can be one, anybody could pull it off.
Quick synopsis:
A look at four people wrestling with what masculinity is to them.
Fact for Non-History People:
Men make up 49% to 49.5% of the U.S. population. We’re outnumbered!
Fact for History Nerds:
More boys than girls are born each year, but we have a shorter life expectancy.
My Take on American Men:
I am so sorry, dear reader. American Men by Jordan Ritter Conn has me at a Pontification Level of 10 (that’s the highest!). I think that is what Conn was going for so bravo, sir! I’d like to start off with what the book is not, though.
American Men is not a diatribe on today’s society and the masculinity crisis. Thank goodness! I think all too often we spend a lot of time defining and arguing about whether something is a crisis instead of, you know, doing something about it. Not to mention, these things tend to be so politically polarizing that half the audience is turned off before even opening the cover. Writing a book like this means there is something to talk about, but Conn is not about to let us all off easy by just saying precisely what we should all feel.
Instead, we get the story of four men. None of the characteristics I am about to reveal are spoilers as it’s in the book summary. One is a closeted Mohawk, one is a West Point graduate (like me!), another is a trans man, and the last is an aspiring lawyer who begins to relive his childhood sexual trauma. Each of them deal with wildly different lives and challenges although under the surface, they have more in common than it seems.
Conn deftly sidesteps a lot of questions by letting these men speak for themselves as they were intimately involved in how their stories are told. The closest Conn comes to inserting his views overtly are in the introduction. However, he provides more of a framework for why this book exists as opposed to something tied to any particular philosophy.
All of this to say, this is what I like to call a “thinkie” book. The answers aren’t easy, and you aren’t meant to finish the narrative and say, “Well that all wrapped up nicely!” Instead, you’re meant to do what I did and look for someone to discuss what it all meant to you.
This only works if the characters and Conn can hold the readers’ attention. For me, I knocked all 300 pages out in two sittings. I most closely aligned in my life experiences to Gideon, the West Pointer, as we went to the same college, served in the Army, and went through divorce. However, Nate, the trans man, has a completely different life from mine, but I was still enthralled by his story. This is due to Conn’s writing, but also the willingness of each character to give Conn an unfiltered view into their lives.
And, holy hell, their lives can be bleak at times. Their openness at times left me squirming in my chair like I was reading something I was not supposed to. There is real courage on many of these pages, and I often wondered if I could have given such unobstructed access to those painful thoughts we all have at times.
That said, Gideon did give me a way into the narrative that I could relate to immediately which allowed me to slowly engage with the other stories. I am not sure how the book might grab onto others who are missing that connection. (For the record, a perusal of other reviews shows many women who said this wasn’t a problem at all.) Overall, I think Conn is such a gifted writer that it most likely won’t matter. This is a great book, and I hope a lot of people read it.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Grand Central Publishing.)
Verdict:
A great look at an old idea. Buy it here!
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