In Search of the Gamma Wolf - A Gentleman's Pocket Guide to Pack Hierarchy

by Nigel Modern, Peter Fasolino (Illustrations)

Since time immemorial, there has been an innate connection between man and wolf. In ancient times, the wolf was domesticated into man's best friend, Rome's founders were suckled by a she-wolf, and there was the myth of the werewolf--which embodied the ultimate concept of the wolf within man. In more recent times, modern culture and the media have propagated the concept with movies such as "Teen Wolf" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" and the use of the term "wolfpack" to describe small, tight-knit male groupings.
We have all watched documentaries in the late hours illustrating the exploits of the dominant Alpha wolf and the Beta wolves that he mauls on his way to the top. But did any wildlife documentary maker ever capture the sneaky exploits of the Gamma wolf? The lone straggler at the back of the pack, with the chewed up tail and mangy fur, who cavorts successfully with the females whilst the Alpha is out of sight?
In Search of the Gamma Wolf  is an attempt to graft male society onto a quasi-scientific--but predominantly fictitious--concept of the wolf pack hierarchy. Along with the familiar Alpha and Beta wolves, this book sheds light on the lesser known wolf the plucky Gamma wolf and his comrades, the Theta, Omega, Zeta and Omicron wolves. It can be used as a light-hearted guide to any informal or institutional environment to identify different male types, the structure of the hierarchy, and where individuals fit within it. It operates on the premise that, regardless of economic, political, or religious creed, every institution in society has a small minority that lives off the cream, an exploited majority, and a few strange individuals who live on the margins and defy labels. Some hypotheses are made as to how individuals may break out of their caste, either through luck or design.

86 pages, Paperback

First published October 8, 2015