In Defense of Man-Books

     Yeah, I get it. As a 50-year-old man, I'm nobody's favored demographic. Who cares if I walk into my local Barnes & Nobel and 90% of the time walk out again empty-handed? That's what my novel-shopping is like. Hell, I gave up reading fiction altogether for about 15 years. I read nothing but non-fiction that whole time, history mostly and most of that military history, to be precise. The kinds of novels I wanted to read just weren't being written. Or, I should say, they weren't being published. Who knew what was being written?

     Okay, I grant you, I'm picky. I like certain kinds of novels. And I'm not just talking subject matter or plot here. I like my novels to be written a certain way, too. I like my authors to care about craft (Egad! What  a pretentious word!) and not simply to call the first thing that pops into their heads good enough. I hate forgettable novels. These are the ones you devour in a few hours, set aside, and never think of again. Not good enough. I'm looking for a memorable experience from my reading.

     As far as subject matter goes...Well, I've given this some thought and the kind of novels I like have one or more of the following elements:

1) Supernatural horror.
2) Mad Science.
3) History.

      Oh, and did I mention the author has to care about craft. No thrillers written entirely in sentence fragments for this guy.

     So any combo of these three factors, coupled with good writing is my kind of book. They're what I call Man-Books and I'd like to see more of them.

     So what are some examples of good Man-Books.

     Jurassic Park is a quintessential Man-Book. Supernatural Horror? Weak check. The dinos are certainly horrific. Mad Science? Strong check. In spades. History? Dinos again.

     Larry McMurtry's Comanche Moon is another. (This is my favorite novel of all time, by the way. Just so you know.) Supernatural Horror? Hey, if Ahumado is not about as close as you can get to supernatural horror without actually being supernatural, I don't know what is. Mad Science? Not really, but not every book has it all. History? It's set in the 19th century. Oh, and the writing is outstanding.

     Maybe the best Man-Book ever written, though, is Preston and Child's The Cabinet of Curiosities. In fact, most all of the P&C repertoire is first-rate, especially Brimstone, Cabinet, Dance of Death and Book of the Dead. Unflinching Man-Books all.

     My own books also qualify. The Blood Gate has plenty of supernatural horror and a sense of history. (Although, my wife tries to make the case that the novel is really a Lady-Book, due to the Xanthippus/Lyssa storyline. But I'm not buying it. She really has this thing for Xanthippus. If I wasn't such an alpha-male myself, I might be a little worried.)

     The War God's Men is a straight-up historical. I like straight-up historicals as long as they concern the fates of nations and lots of warfare. As George C. Scott said in Patton: "God help me, I do love it so!"

     So why are Man-Books so hard to find? Maybe I'm just picky. A couple of authors whom I really, really, really, really (you get the idea: think "Ain't No Sunshine" here), really want to like are Tim Powers and Neal Stephenson. Powers can write. Of all the writers of Man-Books out there, Powers is the one I admire most as a writer. Here's an excerpt from The Anubis Gates so you can see what I mean:

     Stacks of mildewed, leather-bound journals filled the place from floor to ceiling, and had in places collapsed, spilling crumbled fragments of age-browned paper across the damp floor. Doyle reached for the top volume of a stalagmite stack that only came up to chest-high, but rain had leaked into the room at some time and melted or germinated the ancient bindings into one solid mass. Doyle's prying was exciting to madness a nation of spiders, so he stopped and looked at a shelf that contained several pairs of mummified boots. Catching a glitter by the heel of one, he looked closer and saw a three-inch length of fine gold chain trailing from the ancient leather. All the boots proved to have chains, though most were copper long since gone green.

     I enjoy reading this, and I appreciate the effort Powers put into it. If I were to reckon, I'd say the man spent a good half-hour or more crafting this paragraph out of whatever tiresome banalities first spilled from his pen. This is how I want to write.
     Here's one from Stephenson's Quicksilver:

     Enoch had tried to develop the knack of edging around people's perceptions like one of those dreams that does not set itself firmly in memory, and is flushed into oblivion by the first thoughts and sensations of the day.

     That one is not as good as the Powers' quote, but Stephenson's love of writing shows through nevertheless. The point is, there are easier ways to phrase both of these paragraphs and, from what I've seen, writers of what could otherwise be great books are too prone to leave it at that.

     Anyway, I've decided to make the effort to find Man-Books and bring them to your attention here on this humble blog. Traditionally published or Indie makes no difference to me. I'm hunting Man-Books. I'll let you know what I find out there.