To Be a Man

The nearly 90 pieces in this anthology introduce readers to the concept of the deep masculine, which, editor Thompson ( Angels and Aliens: UFOs and the Mythic Imagination ) says, ``connotes ancient modes of adult manhood characterized by emotional richness and spiritual intensity.'' Yet another element in the burgeoning ``men's movement,'' designed to produce a new male who exhibits a kinder, gentler machismo, the book explores masculine psychology, identity, sexuality and bonding. Sam Keen discusses the satisfaction a man takes in his work and providing for a family, and Robert Bly, in an interview with Thompson, examines the development of the enervated, disempowered ``soft male'' in need of both male initiation and father figures. Some arbitrarily chosen snippets from famous writers (Chandler, Kafka, Hesse) illuminate what it means to be male. Richard Haddad's manifesto for male liberation is at once angry and whining in its denial that men are privileged by society and its indictment of the women's movement for ignoring how men feel. Thompson's piece discussing the need for all-male sanctuaries is unctuous--a tone infecting most of the work. (Oct.)