Everyone forgot Papa.
So many of you wrote in with suggestions for men’s reading, but Ernest Hemingway was not among them. Reader Bill Kaluza, critiquing what he saw as a female slant to the book list presented here two weeks ago, came closest: “My own reading suggestions feature authors well-suited for men who are not acceptably emasculated: Henry Miller, Larry McMurtry, John le Carré, John Ford, Saul Bellow, Jerzy Kosinski, Jon Krakauer, Tim O’Brien and maybe a little Updike.”
Before a sampling of what some of you believe should be on every guy’s nightstand, Hemingway needs to get his due.
Call Papa what you will – misogynist, homophobe, backbiting jerk. Pound home the idea that a man and his art are inseparable. Oh, and let me stoke the fire: Hemingway’s macho protagonists, laughable candidates for sensitivity training, don’t really grow or evolve.
What they do, more than most male characters in modern literature, is declare: their lives and concerns, who and what they are as men. For that reason alone – forget the evocative beauty of his spare prose – our shelves should contain at least a few of Hemingway’s books.
If you’ve never read him or it’s been a while, start with his short stories, including “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place” and “Hills Like White Elephants.” Eventually read “The Sun Also Rises,” and try to find a better last line in a novel.
Hemingway aside, our men’s book list two weeks ago featured mostly contemporary works, and such was the case with the suggestions readers sent in. The choices, most of which could not be printed due to space, are compelling and broaden the discussion.
Among Bob Day’s 18 picks: “Abraham: A Journey to the Heart of Three Faiths,” by Bruce Feiler (“how Christianity, Judaism and Islam all run through one man”); “You Just Don’t Understand: Women and Men in Conversation,” by Deborah Tannen (“primer on differences in communication that get in the way of understanding each other”); “Blue Latitudes,” by Tony Horwitz (“at turns both hilarious and informative; the world exploration adventures of Captain Cook”); and “Revenge,” by Laura Blumenfeld. “Her rabbi father shot in the head by a Palestinian youth, Blumenfeld found his family and anonymously befriended them under the guise of writing about their son. The hatred that defines the Middle East is peeled away the moment she reveals her true identity to the family.”
Two readers, Bart Mann and Kerry Miller, suggested “Wild at Heart,” by John Eldredge. “It’s a very compelling examination of the soul of men written from the perspective of who God has created us to be and the gifts he has given us to fulfill that life,” writes Miller.
Sensitive to “the guys/sports stereotype,” Joel Hunt swears his offerings “are not just ESPN rehashes.” First is “The Baseball Reader,” edited by Charles Einstein (“a compilation of poems, spot reporting, fiction and nonfiction about baseball”); Einstein also edited “The New Baseball Reader.” Second: “The Sweet Season,” by Austin Murphy. “A Sports Illustrated staff writer spends a season with Saint John’s University Division-III football team. Head coach John Gagliardi is the winningest in college history and a Trinidad, Colo., native.”
Alan Johnson: “The Man Who Wrestled With God,” by John A. Sanford (“This is the best book for a man’s inner journey that I have read. And I have led men’s retreats for 20 years”); “Men at Work: Life Beyond the Office,” by James E. Dittes (“for men in their ‘relationship’ with their work and their life); “Thirst: God and the Alcoholic Experience,” by James B. Nelson (“about a man’s addictions and a way to come to self-understanding and growth”).
Terence Ridley: “You need to add the American literary and political classic on politics, Robert Penn Warren’s ‘All the King’s Men.’ ”
RadioShack contest: Congratulations to Dilsha Happel of Longmont for winning the $21.43 RadioShack gift card. “My youngest son, Vincent, is 14, with multiple handicaps, mainly autism, visual impairment and developmental delays. He’s a great kid, with a wonderful heart and some quirky interests. One thing he’s been into for years is recording sounds for his own pleasure; pretty much anything, including movies, TV, computer games, music, coins spinning and the folks at home.”
Happy to help a fellow guy make some noise. And thanks to Cheryl Glenn of Longmont and Betty Gifford of Denver for their respective tales of RadioShack love-hate and adoration.
Staff writer Vic Vogler can be reached at 303-820-1749 or vvogler@denverpost.com.
