You know who definitely does not get enough attention? June 23, 2011 Jill Young white navel-gazing men who have extreme narcissism issues but are somehow lauded as representing Everyman because they’re willing to detail their masturbation habits.
Urgh. I have as much interest in reading this as i do reading the transcripts from a frat party. A guy watching porn and shagging his girlfriend does not a novel make, it doesn’t even make a scintillating diary entry…which means it will probably be lauded as some generation defining must-read by the MRA’s.
You know, I don’t begrudge him his desire to write his stories, nor do I begrudge him his success, necessarily. But good goddamn, literary critics, this “white man tells it likes it is!” sacred cow has been a boring trope for a very long time! Find some fresher meat!
Tucker Max frat type, transcended into a Holden Caulfield for the Wii crowd? Trying to stifle a yawn. I loathed Catcher in the Rye as well for how predictable the character was, despite all of the acclaim it gets. Not surprised at the ‘feminists hate this kind of book’ marketing strategy.
Oh, lookie. Another piece of media reassuring us that men are sex-obsessed apes who can’t think without one hand down their pants. Gasp, shock, snore. I mean, look, write whatever you want. I don’t care. The only thing I find offensive is the attention he’s getting in response to his “look-at-Me-I’m-SO-edgy-because-PENISES!” books. Men masturbate and watch porn. In other news, sun is hot. New topic now?
But this is LITERATURE. He’s up-and-coming (HA!). He’s the VOICE of a new GENERATION. He’s Very Important. You gals just don’t get it.
But what all the critics don’t understand is just how groundbreaking this book is! When has an author ever wrote a book detailing a man’s sexual urges and adventures? What? No, I have never read Tropic of Cancer, why do you ask?
“the first and only romantic comedy I’ve ever read based on male desire” Really?!?!?….I mean REALLY?!?! This claim for innovation leaves me a little shocked (or maybe not). As if the romantic comedy genre doesn’t already have the heterosexual male gaze/sexual agenda all through it. Not inventive. Not innovative. Just same ol’, same ol’.
““The Average American Male,” which, since its publication in 2007, has become an unofficial, if somewhat undercover bible for a certain strain of Xbox-playing, Maxim-collecting Gen Y males.” And he’s proud of this? “”(A copy of the book has been circulating among American soldiers serving in the Middle East, Mr. Kultgen said.)” Oh, lord.
Pidgey: But what all the critics don’t understand is just how groundbreaking this book is! When has an author ever wrote a book detailing a man’s sexual urges and adventures? What? No, I have never read Tropic of Cancer, why do you ask? yeah… this. how does a straight white man writing about how much he loves his penis suddenly become fresh and new?
Terrible, terrible, terrible looking book. It never ceases to amaze me the ways in which people cling to boring stereotypical gender identities as a way to get attention, or as a coping mechanism.
“A coming-of-age tale about a protagonist who never really comes of age” Some articles are worthwhile for a turn of the phrase alone, this one, both humorous and sad, makes this review, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the descriptions of 20’s male life rings true. The protagonist is not ‘the average american male’ or even necessarily a plurality, but there are no doubt many guys who live this kind of life style, and more who can relate to parts of the book.
Took a class about Japanese lit from Meiji onward. Nearly every book and short story was like this. Nothing unique. Nothing new. Would prefer to never read another book about a young man yanking his cock ever again.
kinda shocked at the hate coming off feministe for this, why does some white dude talking about himself auto – magically become a “Terrible, terrible, terrible looking book”? “Men masturbate and watch porn. In other news, sun is hot” rly? But when its a women exploring her sexuality through literature that makes it “proper art?” what ever happened to the whole freedom of sexual expression through art is not a zero sum game? Don’t get me wrong, I’m surprised this book came up as a topic on this site at all but unless the book is talking about glorifying social oppression against women, why does the media deserve to be bashed for liking it? serious, no troll intended, I guess I’m just missing something here?!
I read a few chapters; it really does glorify social oppression against men, and is just generally, intentionally awful. Every woman, for instance, is referred to as a “bitch”, and he calls his girlfriend “fat ass”, etc. The backlash feels entirely justified. It feels like reading a book by the KKK, for how unabashedly rotten it is. It makes me queasy.
wallfly: But when its a women exploring her sexuality through literature that makes it “proper art?” Um, no, not really. Also, I guess it depends what you mean by “exploring your sexuality”. This book certainly sounds like it’s about sex, but the exploring element (which would involve pushing into new unexamined territory) seems to be lacking. I’d gladly read a book however about a young white man who’s idea of sex does not centre around porn and the objectification of women. Because that is a tired, old and cliche and has been done ad nauseum. That’s why you’ll find that what most of the comments as well as the OP are accusing this book of is not it’s failure to be “proper art”, but just that is sounds really, really boring.
kinda shocked at the hate coming off feministe for this, why does some white dude talking about himself auto – magically become a “Terrible, terrible, terrible looking book”? “Men masturbate and watch porn. In other news, sun is hot” rly? But when its a women exploring her sexuality through literature that makes it “proper art?” what ever happened to the whole freedom of sexual expression through art is not a zero sum game? Don’t get me wrong, I’m surprised this book came up as a topic on this site at all but unless the book is talking about glorifying social oppression against women, why does the media deserve to be bashed for liking it? The problem is that it’s elevating a very old, very privileged type of narrative as being proper art even though there’s nothing particularly novel about it. In many ways, books like this are problematic because they are steeped in the self-importance and unchecked mysogyny of their authors while books that focus on say women’s experiences are often derided as not having the same artistic merit. It’s also problematic because it passes off the experiences of white straight cisgendered able-bodied men as the experience of the “average American male”, which is demonstrably false and insulting to the variety of experiences that men have. These types of books put down women and do men a disservice and the fact that they are constantly elevated as some kind of edgy, novel and shocking story when they are in fact quite common and quite unchallenging is ridiculous.
Cagey: The problem is that it’s elevating a very old, very privileged type of narrative as being proper art even though there’s nothing particularly novel about it. In many ways, books like this are problematic because they are steeped in the self-importance and unchecked mysogyny of their authors while books that focus on say women’s experiences are often derided as not having the same artistic merit. Agreed, but again, that sounds like we should praise those books, not take AWAY praise from books that are NOT from that perspective cus THAT sounds very zero sum to me. It’s also problematic because it passes off the experiences of white straight cisgendered able-bodied men as the experience of the “average American male”, which is demonstrably false and insulting to the variety of experiences that men have. Now THAT one I missed, point goes to you (+1 to my knowledge check from now on) Christina: I’d gladly read a book however about a young white man who’s idea of sex does not centre around porn and the objectification of women. Because that is a tired, old and cliche and has been done ad nauseum. That’s why you’ll find that what most of the comments as well as the OP are accusing this book of is not it’s failure to be “proper art”, but just that is sounds really, really boring. I guess I see where your coming from but Ill be honest, it feels horribly disingenuous to call a book “bad” simply because it’s a “story we’ve all herd before”. I mean by that logic I could call any “generic” story about a sex worker being sexually assaulted or a person of color being economically oppressed as “boring to the point where nobody should be giving it any praise” simply because its an “old and tried story”. Sorry, that just feels like zero sum logic to me (my 2 cents) Richard: I read a few chapters; it really does glorify social oppression against men, and is just generally, intentionally awful.Every woman, for instance, is referred to as a “bitch”, and he calls his girlfriend “fat ass”, etc.The backlash feels entirely justified.It feels like reading a book by the KKK, for how unabashedly rotten it is.It makes me queasy. I see that logic if the book “glorifies” that stuff, but from the descriptions I saw it seems like hes simply describing a story where that “happens”. That’s different from saying this is how it SHOULD happen I appreciate not being dragged off to the dark corner of the internet and beaten, I guess the whole argument of “it doesn’t promote a gender egalitarian message and should be punished for not doing so” doesn’t sit right with me, I can’t say surprised by the opinions held by most posters, I’m just a bit taken aback by the need to call out this 1 example on a blog that covers such major feminist issues. Ill quietly go back to S’ingTFU now, so long and thnx for all the fish!
wallfly: A I guess I see where your coming from but Ill be honest, it feels horribly disingenuous to call a book “bad” simply because it’s a “story we’ve all herd before”.I mean by that logic I could call any “generic” story about a sex worker being sexually assaulted or a person of color being economically oppressed as “boring to the point where nobody should be giving it any praise” simply because its an “old and tried story”. Not really sure what I can say to that. I guess I feel that the particular story of an individual member of an oppressed group is worth hearing. Even if lots of people have a similar story, it’s worth repeating it till the story changes. I don’t think the same can be said of the masturbation habits of privileged young men. But hey, that’s just me I suppose. I’m sure privileged young men love reading about how their masturbation habits are oh so important and exciting. Nobody’s suggesting the book be banned. But I personally will not be reading it because I think it sounds boring and perpetuates a damaging conception of male sexuality.
I love how they told the fuckewadde to turn his body at an angle to the camera and then rotate his head back at the camera, and then lit him so there’s a big dramatic shadow of his head on the wall. That way he looks so very pensive and intellectual.
It’s articles such as this that really make me hate the NYT. Why is this idiot being elevated? I ask you. And this bit from some asshole: the first and only romantic comedy I’ve ever read based on male desire” and said that it was essentially about “what a man wants if given the permission to be honest. Let’s break this down: a book about a man masturbating, playing video games and fantasizing about “every women he sees” is a “romantic comedy”? Romantic? Comedy? (P.S. Didn’t that Apatow guy already do this?) Men being given permission to be honest: oh that’s a rich one. Poor men. They’re just trying to be honest! Thankfully Chad Kultgen has arrived to give them permission.
Cagey: It’s also problematic because it passes off the experiences of white straight cisgendered able-bodied men as the experience of the “average American male”, which is demonstrably false and insulting to the variety of experiences that men have This. Thanks!
Tony: “A coming-of-age tale about a protagonist who never really comes of age” Some articles are worthwhile for a turn of the phrase alone, this one, both humorous and sad, makes this review, in my opinion. Unfortunately, the descriptions of 20′s male life rings true. The protagonist is not ‘the average american male’ or even necessarily a plurality, but there are no doubt many guys who live this kind of life style, and more who can relate to parts of the book. Summed it up! Too many people (particularly guys, but ladies too) simply refuse to grow up these days. It’s a great disservice to self and partners.