If you share my self-indulgent love of conservative Jeremiads, you have probably happened upon quite a few books and articles deploring the unmanliness of postmodern men. It seems to me that there is considerable justice in these complaints, but their authors tend to have little concrete advice on how to fix the problem. Because would-be manly men are so self-conscious and serious, contemporary attempts at enacting ‘manliness’ almost always threaten do devolve into wooden caricature and mild misogyny.
One shining exception to this is The Art of Manliness . This humorous, interesting and sporadically wise blog is a great resource for all men. It includes advice on topics as diverse as snakebites and pocket squares, and provides the invaluable service of a Google-powered Barbershop Locator. So, gentlemen, check it out ASAP or I will punch you in the face.
Notes on Anosmia
One morning several years ago, as my wife, Wendy, and I were having breakfast together, I had…
Empire of Unreality
Shiva Naipaul (1945–1985) was the author of three novels and two books of mordant dispatches from places…
The Dreadful Christ of Pär Lagerkvist
It’s dangerous to meet a god,” says the disgraced Pythia in Pär Lagerkvist’s The Sibyl. Her observation…