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Book Summary and Reviews of Men by Laura Kipnis

Men by Laura Kipnis

Men

Notes from an Ongoing Investigation

by Laura Kipnis

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  • Published:
  • Nov 2014, 224 pages
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About this book

Book Summary

It's no secret that men often behave in intemperate ways, but in recent years we've witnessed so many spectacular public displays of male excess - disgraced politicians, erotically desperate professors, fallen sports icons - that we're left to wonder whether something has come unwired in the collective male psyche.

In the essays collected here, Laura Kipnis revisits the archetypes of wayward masculinity that have captured her imagination over the years, scrutinizing men who have figured in her own life alongside  more controversial public examples. Slicing through the usual clichés about the differences between the sexes, Kipnis mixes intellectual rigor and wit to give us compelling survey of the affinities, jealousies, longings, and erotics that structure the male-female bond.

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Reviews

Media Reviews

"Starred Review. Kipnis has given us a necessary, and often witty, book that shows a brilliant, agile mind at work." - Publishers Weekly

"Feisty, unapologetic forays into the messiness of gender relations... Dynamite examples rendered in funny, spirited writing. " - Kirkus

"First written as stand-alone pieces, taken together these essays can feel overwhelming in their ironic distance. Despite these limitations, this work will likely be enjoyed and argued with in equal measure by feminist-minded individuals looking for a pleasurable read to tuck in their carry-on." - Library Journal

This information about Men was first featured in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.

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Author Information

Laura Kipnis

Laura Kipnis is the author of How to Become a Scandal, Against Love, and The Female Thing. A professor in the Department of Radio/TV/Film at Northwestern University, she has received fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the NEA. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, Harper's, Slate, and Bookforum, among others. She lives in New York and Chicago.

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