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Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity
by
Gary Cross
Adam Sandler movies, HBO's "Entourage," and such magazines as "Maxim" and "FHM" all trade in and appeal to one character--the modern boy-man. Addicted to video games, comic books, extreme sports, and dressing down, the boy-man would rather devote an afternoon to Grand Theft Auto than plan his next career move. He would rather prolong the hedonistic pleasures of youth than...more
Hardcover, 316 pages
Published
September 23rd 2008
by Columbia University Press
(first published August 22nd 2008)
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Not a good book, though it does occasionally have its moments. Gary Cross shines when he is analyzing his own culture/generation and experience (and maybe his parents' generation). At least I think he does. But he has very little idea about the culture that follows. He uses roller coasters to function as a representative of modern trends like paintball (maybe), extreme sports (doubtful) and raves (what the heck?!!?) Or seeing the Simpsons' primary influence on TV as the switching of gender roles...more
Gary Cross proposes some interesting theories about why the standards of adulthood and maturity are changing. One intriguing idea is that advertising and consumerism are increasingly encouraging us to to indulge in the present moment instead of strive for long-term achievement-based status icons. After all, men who focus on saving and providing for their families make much poorer consumers than those who remain in a prolonged adolescence marked by obsession with appearance and product-based self...more
Oct 13, 2008
baggyparagraphs
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
It almost could be a self-help manual for any guy who's addicted to videogames.
Recommended to baggyparagraphs by:
Wall Street Journal review
My grandmother used to tell me to enjoy my youth, because the fun stopped with the coming of adulthood. “Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity,” by Gary Cross, defines the phenomenon of “basement boys” or “boy-men”—the guys who move back in with mom and dad to play video games and watch violent adventure movies. Cross’s thesis is that men’s traditional roles were transformed because there were no longer farms or home workshops that enabled the father to participate in child-rearing; mass...more
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Too much summary, too little analysis. I was initially intrigued by this book's premise--that the rise of consumerism in the U.S. has especially contributed to the "Peter Pan" man-boy phenomenon common among many (that is, many white, straight, middle-class, able-bodied) men today--but the lack of insightful analysis was disappointing and pretty much wrecked the book.
I gave up on this book. Thought it would hsve an interesting thesis but never really found a focus to his arguments. I got lost in endless academic ruminations about Howdy Doody and old cars. Boring and showing signs of being all about a middle aged man working out his issues of loss and encroaching old age.
Interesting social trend, but too heavy on the details making for a dense read.
I thought this was going to be an awesome book full o'men bashing but really it's just the author talking about his experiences growing up. Weird.
This book got too personal to the author; he often compared his own experiences to the subject of the book. The subjectivity detracted from the research, I think, though his heart was in the right place. But overall, it was a good read and brought up some important questions, social contexts, and problems Gen X and later faces: what happens when eternal youth fades? Even more timely now that the boomers are hitting retirement age.
not much on solutions, but an interesting historical overview of the american trend of increasing number of immature men
OST NEW NON-FIC 1ST FLOOR 305.31 CRO
Mar 17, 2013
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