I’ve flipped through some pages, and already know that I’m going to be laughing out loud (while learning a lot on HOW TO BE A MAN) on about every page. It has dictionary terms (“A Thousand Names For Your Penis (Not Counting Your Penis)”, etc.), interesting lists (“Great Professional Wrestlers And Their Signature Moves”, etc.), jokes (“The Alligator Joke, Part 1” (and 2! I LOL’ed at them, haha!), etc.), tips which are honestly helpful & useful (“Words of Wisdom: Resumes”, etc.), and some other random bits and pieces (“The Finest Insults Ever Made”, “Terms for Sexual Intercourse”, “Manned Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo Missions”, etc.).
The most (if not all) thoughts here are meant to inform (wine terms, weather, how to hot-wire a car, poker hands, major crimes, how to tie a tie, ivy league schools, etc.), though admittedly an idea not meant to be taken seriously (well, that’s what I think anyway) is found here and there. I dare say that more often than not, the machismo oozing in this book was not exactly meant to degrade women, but merely to celebrate and definitely educate the reader (preferably a man) the well-known ideas of “being a man”. It’s up to the reader on how to react, but I definitely enjoyed this– both for its being a very informative read, as well as its humor.
Pro-tip: Read the introduction. SRSLY. I mean, it says there plainly: “Women’s books have names like Our Bodies, Ourselves… Men don’t have books- they have magazines. Most of these magazines you can’t read in public after the age of thirty… So it’s time for a book. This book. This book is for men.” So revel in the fact that there’s a book like this (probably among others, but this is THE MAN BOOK, and how could you go wrong with a book with such a telling title?), and read on.
[To clarify: I’m not a man. I just bought this book out of interest, plus it was on sale. Sweet deal, I’ll say.]
The Man Book by Otto DeFay
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
