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192 reviews for:
Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son
Michael Chabon
3.69 AVERAGE
192 reviews for:
Manhood for Amateurs: the Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father and Son
Michael Chabon
3.69 AVERAGE
There is so much to love about this book. Michael Chabon is a master of prose, his sentences flow smooth like honey. Like seriously. That's really enough for me, but in addition, he has so much interesting and witty insight on manhood, fatherhood, old vs new, and an especially interesting chapter on Lego blocks.
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A hit or miss essay collection leavened with some good pieces but mostly full of ones that are mired in traditional ideas of manhood, while seeming uncomfortable about it, or trying badly to deny it.
This book is a must-read... all short essays, so it's easy to read in small chunks. It is about parenthood, what has become of childhood, love, being a man, disappointment and deception, and much more. I've just finished it and want to start it over again to make sure I really understood all of it.
Usually pedantic, often nostalgic, sometimes poignant.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
fast-paced
Despite Michael Chabon being nine years older than me, I’ve always felt a sort of generational kinship with him through his writing. This book is no different. Chabon has eloquently written many of the things I typically think about my own masculinity, relationships, marriage, and fatherhood but could never write myself.
I loved this book! My only disappointment was that I checked out from the library and therefore couldn't mark it up. I do believe a Kindle copy is in order so that I can mark my favorite parts and revisit this wonderful collection of essays. Michael Chabon is here confirmed as my favorite living writer. The essays contained here offer up a perfect blend of reflections on what it is to be a husband, father and son, and at all times a friend. This is not a handbook. The author is by no means putting out there that he did it all perfectly. He is very honest about his shortcomings and mistakes that he made in his male roles. This is Manhood for Amateurs, after all.
The title is made doubly clear as you near the end of the book and read The Amateur Family. In this essay, he talks about his children and their geekdom. He has raised his kids to enjoy the things that he enjoys: comics, sci-fi, writing and drawing, etc. This one particularly talks about their love of the new Doctor Who. He talks about the different words applied to those that love these things and the connotations that go along with them: geek, nerd, fanboy. He then settles on:
"amateur, in all the original best senses of the word: a lover, a devotee; a person driven by passion and obsession to do it- to explore the imaginary world- oneself. And if we must accept the inevitable connotation of hopeless ineptitude that amateur carries, then at least let us stipulate that we shall be hopeless and inept like Max Fischer, the hero of Wes Anderson's Rushmore, in the most passionate, heedless, and whole-hearted way."
The title is made doubly clear as you near the end of the book and read The Amateur Family. In this essay, he talks about his children and their geekdom. He has raised his kids to enjoy the things that he enjoys: comics, sci-fi, writing and drawing, etc. This one particularly talks about their love of the new Doctor Who. He talks about the different words applied to those that love these things and the connotations that go along with them: geek, nerd, fanboy. He then settles on:
"amateur, in all the original best senses of the word: a lover, a devotee; a person driven by passion and obsession to do it- to explore the imaginary world- oneself. And if we must accept the inevitable connotation of hopeless ineptitude that amateur carries, then at least let us stipulate that we shall be hopeless and inept like Max Fischer, the hero of Wes Anderson's Rushmore, in the most passionate, heedless, and whole-hearted way."
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A rather uneven collection, which I feel is appropriate to a selection of essays written at the author's discretion -- not all of a person's random musings can strike a resonant emotional chord. Also, appropriate to this author in particular, who has written some of my most beloved novels (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Yiddish Policeman's Union), and also some of my biggest literary disappointments (Wonder Boys, Gentlemen of the Road).
However, some of the stories in here I found deeply moving and instructive for a life I hope is still to come for me, busy with family and work and rejoicing in raising my own children someday. As my husband said when I forced him to read the second essay, "William and I," which was arguably among the best, this guy rambles! But a majority of the time it was a charming ramble and I enjoyed it.
However, some of the stories in here I found deeply moving and instructive for a life I hope is still to come for me, busy with family and work and rejoicing in raising my own children someday. As my husband said when I forced him to read the second essay, "William and I," which was arguably among the best, this guy rambles! But a majority of the time it was a charming ramble and I enjoyed it.