Product Description

Having learnt Aikido with the Tokyo riot police (ANGRY WHITE PYJAMAS) and hunted for the world's longest snake in the jungles of the Far East (BIG SNAKE), Robert Twigger now turns his attention to other traditionally male pursuits and pastimes (some of which are fairly close to home, some of which are more extreme), and looks at the questions these raise about masculinity and the role of man in modern society. BEING A MAN features Twigger participating in, and writing on: the informal rules and thrill seeking of solo climbing, bullfighting in Spain, the 'illicit pleasure of buying my first gun', and the rules of survival with a tribe of Naga headhunters - the sort of activities and pursuits often scorned in the modern, interiorised office-based world.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #280794 in Books
• Published on: 2002-10-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 208 pages

Review
We have set an end of October press date for this title. And intensive work on men's magazines has already yielded good reviews and features in the November issues, with ARENA carrying a feature on 'Robert Twigger test drives a Jaguar' and a confirmed review in GQ. Confirmed reviews include DAILY MAIL, INDEPENDENT, SUNDAY TIMES and OXFORD TIMES and we've already had ones in THE SCOTSMAN, THE MAIL ON SUNDAY and the following one in THE GUARDIAN 'he is certainly very good on the allure of some male-dominated subcultures' Radio interviews include BBC RADIO 4'S WOMAN'S HOUR (12/11/02), BBC RADIO BERKSHIRE (Jan Edwards' Afternoon Show), BBC Radio 5 SIMON MAY (8/11/02), LISA L'ANSON on BBCRadio London (6/11/02), LBC interview with Dr Pam (broadcast on 9/11/02) andBBC RADIO OXFORD, who recorded a full feature with Robert, in his hut (30.10.

About the Author
Robert Twigger won the Newdigate prize for poetry in 1985. He is the author of Angry White Pyjamas, winner of the Somerset Maugham Award and the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award, Big Snake, The Extinction Club and Being a Man.

Customer Reviews

Confused and reaches few conclusions.
Bit of an odd one, this. Twigger contrasts his fairly adventurous, exciting life with the mundane preparations he goes through before his wife gives birth. The problem with the book is that it tends to ramble and seems to contradict itself. Twigger suggests men should really undertake a rite of passage with some physical danger and hardship in order to be a man, but acknowledges that men who go through aggressive, dangerous activities (like Hemingway) are only doing it to convince themselves and others they are men when inside nothing changes. Twigger infers that men are stifled by the female "safe" world we live in today, and that men need to feel risk in order to feel alive, he also seems to equate physical prowess with manliness. Twigger doesn't explain why he believes men are intrinsically more violent and should be more physically active/skilled than women, accepting these as facts of life. Twigger seems to say the same thing twice in different clothing: "male seeming" (bad) where men try to convince others they are male by doing supposedly manly things, and "male being" (good) where men do manly things but don't brag about it. I was never sure what Twigger was getting at, should men be physical hardnuts (but with manners) or not? Is Twigger sure himself? Twigger does believe that men and women are very different, which is perhaps true, but I think men and women have more similarites than differences, perhaps this modern realisation of our similarities is more responsible for the so-called "lousy modern world" Twigger despises than some kind of feminine dominance. But then I would say that as I'm a passive, cowardly, fat layabout who has never been abroad or had any adventures like Twigger has.

On Becoming, but not There yet.
I read this after being impressed with the excellent Angry White Pyjamas. This is less linear (Unstuck in Time like Vonneguts' Slaughterhouse Five) but funnier. From the Here and Now of impending fatherhood, Twigger flashes back through episodes of bravery/near-suicidal stupidity. He discounts joining the Army or holding a boring job, and damn right too, but recalls the thrill of owning his first airgun and the embarrassment of failing to wheelie a bicycle. But Robert Twigger goes a bit further than I would; risking drowning, looking for dirty great snakes, falling off cliffs and, yes, bullfighting (Top Tip: Use the aikido shout).
This book is no macho rant; I'd be happy to get a prize for poetry. But if you've ever tried too hard and felt like a prat(and who hasn't?), this is for you. I've orderded a copy for my brothers' birthday.

Addressing a very real problem in today's very lousy world.
How many times do we walk down the local town high street feeling trepedatious at the prospect of being confronted by a gang of youths looking menacing and how many years after leaving school do we need to spend in a seemingly dead end job to realise that 'this is it'?

The answer in both instances for many males in Western society sadly appears to be too many on both accounts. Robert Twigger, in a deliberately roundabout way tackles both these issues in Being A Man. His assessment is that one of the main reasons for the anxiety felt by men today is down to the feminisation of society and the decline of traditional male rights of passage allowing boys to become men who are capable of shouldering responsibility with maturity.

This book will appeal to a section of society with a direct interest in the subject matter (ie. the disaffected males) but it should also be read and understood by others, without necessarily the direct interest, but who are affected by the falling standards and disillusionment of modern western society. I believe that upon reading and understanding the underlying message of this book people in general will be able to at least understand why we worry about the meaningless of working life and declining social standards within this seemingly lousy modern world.