The Man's Essential Library

July 21, 2009 7:33 AM

100 must-read books. 50 must-read adventure books. 50 must-read non-fiction adventure books. 100 must-see movies.

Great checklists from The Art of Manliness, now in PDF format.

posted by jbickers (31 comments total)

Is there any context that allows us to understand what exactly is so manly about those lists?
posted by ninebelow at 7:40 AM on July 21, 2009

Am I reading this wrong, or is theartofmanliness.com an excuse to post "articles" and lists about "manliness" in order to sell advertising space?
posted by papercake at 7:45 AM on July 21, 2009

Why yes there is ... sorry I didn't include:

100 must-read books
50 must-read adventure books
50 must-read non-fiction adventure books
100 must-see movies
posted by jbickers at 7:46 AM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

is theartofmanliness.com an excuse to post "articles" and lists about "manliness" in order to sell advertising space?

Not at all. They publish a lot of original articles, most of which are excellent. They only occasionally do lists like these.
posted by jbickers at 7:46 AM on July 21, 2009

Well, I've read pretty much all those books so I must be pretty manly.
posted by saucysault at 7:47 AM on July 21, 2009

well i guess then, i'm a manly woman? or maybe just did all my homework in english class.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 7:51 AM on July 21, 2009

No list of non-fiction adventure books is complete without Barrow's Boys by Fergus Fleming.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:06 AM on July 21, 2009

I suppose the ending to A Farewell To Arms is hardly a secret at this point, but come on.

Also, Atlas Shrugged. QED.
posted by kingbenny at 8:07 AM on July 21, 2009

is theartofmanliness.com an excuse to post "articles" and lists about "manliness" in order to sell advertising space?

Not at all. They publish a lot of original articles, most of which are excellent. They only occasionally do lists like these.

Ah. I initially parsed the huge picture of the briefcase that came up when I launched the site as an ad. Looking closer, there's alot more going on here — although the tone isn't really my cup of tea.

(And their reasoning for why you should read Atlas Shrugged made me throw up a little in my mouth.)
posted by papercake at 8:10 AM on July 21, 2009

1 Worthless FPP
posted by autodidact at 8:20 AM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Ha! Last of the Mohicans is #8 on their 100 Must See Movies!!!!
posted by exhilaration at 8:26 AM on July 21, 2009

And their reasoning for why you should read Atlas Shrugged made me throw up a little in my mouth.

I got this feeling from quite a few of the books on the list. Read Catch 22 because the title has become an everyday phrase. Read Catcher in the Rye, just don't identify with the protagonist. Read the Bible, because we live in a Christian society, and even if you aren't Christian, the advice in it is sound.
posted by Bernt Pancreas at 8:28 AM on July 21, 2009

Why aren't there lists like
100 books I thought were totally OK.

These books, I think there's like 10, sucked and were long.

I read these 50 books in a week and if you can't then you're a miserable fucking loser.

10 Books to read so that you can say you've read them, even if you don't have the faintest idea of what the broader context and implications of these books were, they're just on all these lists like this and so if you read them, you can look at these lists and go, "Oh, yeah, I like, totally read a lot of those books."
posted by From Bklyn at 8:31 AM on July 21, 2009 [2 favorites]

> Why aren't there lists like

Heh. Reminded me of a passage from Italo Calvino's If on a winter's night a traveler:

"In the shop window you have promptly identified the cover with the title you were looking for. Following this visual trail, you have forced your way through the shop past the thick barricade of Books You Haven't Read, which were frowning at you from the tables and shelves, trying to cow you. But you know you must never allow yourself to be awed, that among them there extend for acres and acres the Books You Needn't Read, the Books Made For Purposes Other Than Reading, Books Read Even Before You Open Them Since They Belong To The Category Of Books Read Before Being Written. And thus you pass the outer girdle of ramparts, but then you are attacked by the infantry of the Books That If You Had More Than One Life You Would Certainly Also Read But Unfortunately Your Days Are Numbered. With a rapid maneuver you bypass them and move into the phalanxes of the Books You Mean To Read But There Are Others You Must Read First, the Books Too Expensive Now And You'll Wait Till They're Remaindered, the Books ditto When They Come Out In Paperback, Books You Can Borrow From Somebody, Books That Everybody's Read So It's As If You Had Read Them, Too. "
posted by dhruva at 8:35 AM on July 21, 2009 [4 favorites]

MEN! Hear my call! READ GOOD BOOKS! And occasionally read some horrible crap. Also, watch movies of variable goodness! Not all of them will have boobs, but WATCH THEM ANYWAY! Many of the ones without boobs will feature killing. Except for Field of Dreams. That one doesn't have fucking anything, and will give you gas. MEN!
posted by Skot at 8:39 AM on July 21, 2009

We already did their 100 Books—it's mostly a mishmash of politics the author didn't understand and latent homosexuality in the guise of macho.
posted by klangklangston at 8:46 AM on July 21, 2009

Yeah, double here.
posted by klangklangston at 8:48 AM on July 21, 2009

So manly you want it twice.
posted by xod at 8:54 AM on July 21, 2009

I had briefly misunderstood this to be 100 Must Read Choose Your Own Adventure Books, and, noting the manliness, wondered if there were an entire series I had somehow missed. From Harry Visits the Tobacconists ...

The cigar you have been sampling is of vastly inferior quality. Do you ...

Wordlessly drop the burning cigar onto the oak countertop, turn stiffly, and march out?
(Turn to Page 84)

Challenge the proprietor to fisticuffs?
(Turn to Page 39)

Pull the straight razor which you just purchased as a gift for your father and slash the leather furniture?
(Turn to Page 50)

posted by adipocere at 8:59 AM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Where I come from people who are "manly" don't need a website/reading list to help reassure themselves that they are actually manly. In fact I'd guess that people cruising the Internet for grooming and lifestyle advice are......... Well, you get the idea.

A tip for "art of manliness" dot com - If you need a check list and daily tips, you aren't manly, you are a poser. Please do an article about that titled, "If you follow our Twitter feed, you're not that manly."
posted by y6y6y6 at 9:07 AM on July 21, 2009

White Noise:

This National Book Award winner was more right on in 1985 than Delillo could have possibly known. The drug Dylar is the supposed answer to man’s fear of death, yet causes users to lose their minds. This is an extremely enjoyable read, particularly relevant and funny in its examination of how people act in a climate of fear (hello Homeland Security) and under a “hail of bullets” from advertisers and imaginary enemies alike. The lesson: secretly hold out for the wonder drug and/or fountain of youth, but live each day like it might be your last... in a good way... and still show up to work unless you really, really know it is your last day on earth.

If this was true we probably should fire it from the canon. Oh manly man, is there nothing you can't ruin?
posted by ninebelow at 9:12 AM on July 21, 2009

Alas, I appear to be 0.05 of a man.

That explains a lot, actually.
posted by Danf at 9:13 AM on July 21, 2009

I'm not a big fan of things that claim to quantify manliness - for one, I think it's in short supply, limited to those who can say "back in the days when we fought the nazi's" and not be referring to a videogame.

However,
81: Seven Samurai

while, a great film, I'm willing to bet that it's simply there for phallic representation of Kikuchiyo's sword and the fact that a lot of things die. Better example of manliness are in films like Ikiru and Harakiri. Where it's not about how many people you can kill, but in how your life develops and how strongly you're willing to pursue the code of living you've found. I'll take the sad and dying Takashi Shimura on a child's swing set in the snow or the threatening sense of underlying rage from a bereaved father played by Tatsuya Nakadai over piles of dead bodies.
posted by Macphisto at 9:15 AM on July 21, 2009

Terrible Digg-bait post.
posted by nasreddin at 9:19 AM on July 21, 2009

This post is going into my list of 100 bad FPPs.
posted by sid at 9:26 AM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Anything that involves fisticuffs is a winner in my book of fisticuffs.
posted by WalterMitty at 9:27 AM on July 21, 2009

From classified ad seen in newspaper:

Man wanted: Must have either 1- Killed another man with bare hands, 2- Climbed Mount Everest, 3- Had sex with at least four women in one day.

Purpose: To ask you what movies you've seen and books you've read.
posted by digsrus at 9:33 AM on July 21, 2009 [3 favorites]

28 Must-Read Comments!
posted by ardgedee at 9:36 AM on July 21, 2009

I must be one manly homo.
posted by blucevalo at 9:59 AM on July 21, 2009 [1 favorite]

Except for Field of Dreams. That one doesn't have fucking anything, and will give you gas.

Well, that and diarrhea.
posted by blucevalo at 10:00 AM on July 21, 2009

I suppose the ending to A Farewell To Arms is hardly a secret at this point

I never understand this kind of rationalization for giving away endings. There are always new people who haven't read something but would like to. Not everyone reads things when they're first released.
posted by Jaltcoh at 10:11 AM on July 21, 2009