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Recent discourse has begged the question: Why aren’t men reading fiction? Are they reading anything at all? In this monthly series, we’re talking to men about the books they think other guys should check out right now. Whether it’s revisiting a classic, getting engrossed in a memoir or devouring something fast paced and action packed, there’s bound to be something here for any reader to enjoy.
My panel of men really came through for the fourth installment of this monthly series, offering up a diverse and compelling lineup of books to read this May. We’ve got gripping nonfiction, whether your interest is piqued by the mysterious 1939 suicide of a famed German dramatist or a vulnerable struggle with modern masculinity; enlightening titles that editors and book reviewers turn to time and time again; and some of the most highly anticipated books of the year.
My personal recommendation is a book I think about every spring, as that was when I first read it several years ago. It’s a little novel, fewer than 300 pages, called Piranesi. The visuals are cinematic and profound. Piranesi, the main protagonist, lives in a house that feels alive. It’s a labyrinth with massive statues and an entire ocean roaring with waves and tides. He lives there with a man he calls The Other, and over time, Piranesi learns more about his life and purpose. It’s a story that balances the dark and devastating while also being hopeful and transformative. It’s left a permanent pit in my stomach, even after all these years.
Now, onto your reading list for the month.
Beauty Doesn’t Reach Me by Richard Byrne
“As the Nazis took power in 1930s Germany, the anti-fascist playwright Ernst Toller crossed the Atlantic and settled in the U.S. His life took a tragic turn in the years that followed, leading to his death in New York in 1939 — and that’s where this gripping book begins. Richard Byrne had written about Toller’s life and death prior to this book, in a play titled Hotel Mayflower. After Byrne finished that work, however, he remained intrigued by the aftermath of Toller’s death and continued his research. What he found was a dizzying array of connections — including artists, intellectuals and psychiatrists — whose lives intersected with Toller’s, and whose legacies are inexorably connected to Toller’s death mask. The resulting book is an engrossing work of nonfiction and an unforgettable trip into history.” — Tobias Carroll, InsideHook Weekend Editor
Avoidance, Drugs, Heartbreak and Dogs by Jordan Stephens
“[Stephens] tells his life story and all the ways he got lost along the way. You could be mistaken for thinking this book is one long apology for all the things he did wrong in his life, but to me it’s not — to me the book is a man accepting his flaws and addressing why he did the things he did in a compassionate way. It is a journey of redemption that doesn’t scold or shed his younger self but embraces and holds him.” — Sam Browne, poet
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz
“A quick yet highly insightful read. I find myself returning to this title frequently when I am in need of regrounding or solitude. Though the concepts may seem fairly logical, they are often overlooked on a day-to-day basis. Ruiz shares ancient Toltec wisdom that forces self-reflection upon the reader, to stop and think about how one carries their self, mind and body through life. I have gifted this book to many of those closest to me during pivotal moments in their lives, such as graduation, a promotion or new job. It helps ease the continuous stream that is change.” — Maxwell Stafford, InsideHook Commerce Fellow
9 Books You Should Read Right Now, According to Cool Men
This month, our panel recommends pandemic fiction, a literary role-playing game and a haunted-house novel from the author of “Bird Box”
Transcription by Ben Lerner
“Remember when you were a kid and you’d cross off the days on the calendar until summer break? I do that with release dates for Ben Lerner novels. It’s been a long five years since The Topeka School, his last heady work of autofiction, but the release of Transcription appears to be more than worth it, despite it being a slim 144 pages (The New York Times: “[I]t cracks open some of the most colossal and enduring philosophical questions facing us today”). The novel follows a writer in early middle age who is interviewing his 90-year-old mentor, and father of his friend from college, for a magazine story. The title hints at the anxiety-inducing setup — the narrator clumsily breaks his smartphone and so cannot record the interview — but as with all of Lerner’s books, there are murky depths to plumb there, on topics ranging from technology to parenthood. Once I’m done with the book on my nightstand, I’ll try not to tear through this too fast. No promises.” — Alex Lauer, InsideHook Features Editor
Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir by Natasha Trethewey
“With the ongoing rise in femicide against Black women, I can think of no more timely read than Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Natasha Trethewey’s Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir. This book is a gut punch. In 1985, when Natasha was just 19 years old, her mother was tragically murdered by her former stepfather. With the grace and clarity befitting a former U.S. poet laureate, Trethewey paints a portrait of her mother, a determined and gutsy woman who did everything right, yet still became a victim of police indifference — a microcosm of the indifference America has always shown toward Black women. A must-read for understanding that we aren’t just now in a ‘mental-health crisis.’ We always have been, and violence against women is one of its clearest expressions.” — Nico, follow on Instagram and TikTok
Butcher’s Crossing by John Williams
“Butcher’s Crossing is a Western that treats the West differently from most Westerns. Most of them are about people — and Butcher’s Crossing is certainly about people — but it’s also about a place. It treats the landscape and the main character’s passage through it like a character. On the surface, it’s about a buffalo hunt, about a college graduate from the East who went to a Ralph Waldo Emerson lecture about the West and decided he wanted some of that. What he finds, though, is more of an internal reckoning than he bargained for. He finds in the wild something that Emerson couldn’t teach him: himself. I think it’s a must-read for anyone who thinks they don’t like Westerns. There are certain accumulated tropes that you won’t find here. With this book, Williams wears the Western genre like a skin so that he can explore something a bit deeper and more resonant.” — Josh, follow on Instagram and TikTok
There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm
“‘How do you fight an enemy without ever discovering it exists?’ It turns out humanity has secretly been waging a centuries-long war against ideas. Well, actually, it’s an ever-fluctuating, often-overmatched organization fighting ‘antimemes,’ ideas that can bend reality and often make people forget they exist (even if they secretly tower over buildings, or they’re a non-corporeal entity that claims to be a prehistoric Johorean god of forgetting how to ride a bicycle…the invisible monsters here range from horrific to quite laughable). It’s extremely hard to explain the horrors of this novel by software developer ‘qntm’ (real name: Sam Hughes), but it’s also the most fascinating bit of unexplainable horror and sci-fi since The Gone World.” — Kirk Miller, InsideHook Senior Lifestyle Editor
The Correspondent by Virginia Evans
“Through life’s struggles, many commonly turn to self-help reads for remediation. Personally, I find similar sentiments with even stronger takeaways through fiction. Take The Correspondent by Virginia Evans, a novel following 73-year-old retiree Sybil, who uses letters to process life’s experiences and challenges. By its end, I thought of my life through a lens I’ve never encountered before. At first you may think, how would I relate as a man nowhere near retirement age? And that logic is exactly what this book challenges. The Correspondent is a story about the beauty and uncertainty of aging, a concept quite difficult to comprehend. As a victim of hindsight, understanding what should be done in a situation that has already come to pass, this book struck a specific chord, a ponderment about my own life. I now have a deeper appreciation for the people around me, my access to things and my privileged ability to live freely. It reminded me to take a step back and breathe, taking in the beauty of life and the ordinary. Giving fiction a chance to shift your perspective and challenge your current sense of self is a revelatory gateway to understanding your values and who you are.” — Will McCusker, follow on Instagram and TikTok
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