A review by canjackread
All That Man Is by David Szalay

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

While this book was incredibly written, I found myself searching for reasons to care about many of the characters. Selfish, sex obsessed, disloyal men repeatedly disappointed me while reading. I feel that this book paints a portrait of masculinity that is pessimistic and wasteful. I would have liked to see some positive models of masculinity at least sprinkled through out. Despite this, I was taken aback with how easy to read and vividly illustrative this book was. Every character was written with such depth of feeling which made me feel like I was every age from 17 to 73. Great writing, awful characters. But I guess that’s the point.