"Man Books" from Esquire

[plib]

Originally Posted by fjtorres

It is *very* pulpish.
Tongue-in-cheek, mostly, and generally amusing.
A bit of a farce in parts, a bit serious in others. Much better written that even the "modern" pulps. (Mack Bolan, etc.)
Even if you have a sense of humor, it'll (intentionally) offend about 70% of the world population.
The darn thing holds together, though; fast-paced, breezy, amusing.
Not to be taken seriously but it would make a pretty fun action flick for Bruce Willis, except hardly anybody in hollywood would be amused by its "neanderthal conservative" narrative tone.

One of Ringo's co-authors on the Legacy of the Aldenata series is Tom Kratman. He has a number of solo books of his own which have a very similar "neanderthal conservative" narrative tone, in particular the Carrera series and Caliphate. They're not as well written as Ringo and a bit more overtly political, also he doesn't have Ringo's s talent for humour, but they're very much in the "shock and awe" category of Ghost and are also guaranteed to (intentionally) offend the "well-bred, proper thinking, alfuent urban male", though in Kratman's case I'm not sure how tongue-in-cheek it all is. They're definitely "Man Books" though.

[taming]

I'm guessing that the magazine's publisher has noticed that genre fiction is doing very well. If they have a way to monetize their choice of manly books they may be hoping for a payday.

[SeaKing]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Funny, I saw an ad for Esquire on the internet just the other day; and I thought to myself, I've never met a man who reads Esquire or Gentleman's Quarterly.

When I was a teen (60s) Esquire was an sophisticated "adult magazine" and I looked at a few. I don't mean it was raunchy with pictures, just had "adult themes" and supposedly sophisticated authors and sophisticated people. A lot of high end cars, watches, clothes, etc. were advertised. i.e. you might find an article about air travel, vacations abroad, Nightlife in NY, Hemingway or Ava Gardiner for example. Not really very interesting for me.

Then in the late 90s, I heard some older guys referring to a young pilot as "straight out of GQ" and I asked what did that mean. The guys said they were talking about the way he dressed. I glanced at a few of the GQs on the newsstand and saw what they meant. It was like the old Esquire with more clothes, more women even more scantily dressed, and more expensive toys. I never bothered to look at the new Esquires.

If you want to meet some GQ readers, go to the vicinity around a big airbase and look for some 30 year old jet jockeys, or go to a city with a big private University and check out the Frat boys.

I imagine NY has a lot of them near and around the Financial District and the upscale clubs. Likewise at airport lounges, the ones you need a card to get into.

Of course all the Club Med type spots.

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by plib

...though in Kratman's case I'm not sure how tongue-in-cheek it all is. They're definitely "Man Books" though.

As far as CALIPHATE goes, I'm pretty sure tongue-in-cheek was not in the mix. The story was clearly intended as a cautionary tale to scare the bejeezus out of readers. ("Walking" a nuke barrage up the Nile? Nope, not in the least whimsical.) Not a world anybody would want to live in.

GHOST, on the other hand, is all about power fantasies. Mostly male power fantasies but I wouldn't be surprised to hear that *some* females appreciate the fantasies in the second half of the book.
(shrug)
Not after the success of 50 SHADES, anyway.

[ebusinesstutor]

Guess I'm not manly enough. Most of my favourite science fiction authors are women...

So no interest in "men's" fiction.

[plib]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Guess I'm not manly enough. Most of my favourite science fiction authors are women...

So no interest in "men's" fiction.

Up to you I suppose. I also read Bujold, Cherryh, Gabaldon, Lackey, Moon, Novik, McCaffrey, and Georgette Heyer for that matter. I've even slogged through DeMarce. They're not mutually exclusive.

[covfam]

Originally Posted by ebusinesstutor

Guess I'm not manly enough. Most of my favourite science fiction authors are women...

So no interest in "men's" fiction.

the plumbing of the writer has no difference on who i read from sci-fi,thriller,fantasy,action, mystery it doesnt matter, im as much of a fan of robbin hobb,naomi novik, lillian jackson braun,j.a.jance, elizabeth peters as i am of clive cussler, tom clancy, jack du brul <shrugs>

[jbcohen]

I second covfam, the gender of the author is quite frankly irrelevant what is relevant is: writting style, type of tale and book price. First of all I hate authors that make very frequent sceen changes, second I preferr more action oriented books and thirs I am simply nto willing to pay over $6 per book and in many cases will not pay more than $3. I am simply not willing to pay those sky high book prices that one finds in a book store these days as I preferr to pay less rather than more.

[BeccaPrice]

I find I unintentionally gravitate toward women writers. I don't intend to, that's just the way it works out. I think it's because women tend to write more character-driven stories, and I don't get the glorification of violence (as much) with women writers as with men.

[morantis]

This is going to be interesting.

[nursedude]

For the curious (I browsed but did not buy) the magazine has short stories by:

Stephen King/Joe Hill
Lee Child
Colum McCann

[fjtorres]

Originally Posted by nursedude

For the curious (I browsed but did not buy) the magazine has short stories by:

Stephen King/Joe Hill
Lee Child
Colum McCann

Any of them about stolen russian nukes or chechen terrorists having a bad day?

[fjtorres]

They seem to be getting a lot of publicity for their new venture from a variety of sources. Even THE ECONOMIST saw fit to sling a few darts their way:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/prosp...05/fiction-men

Rather than a bid for literary credibility—let’s call it "litcred", for tough guys’ sakes—maybe “Fiction for Men” is a call for the kind of commercial success that Women’s Fiction, a.k.a. chick lit, has long enjoyed. The first volume of this series, to be released in June, will include short stories by Aaron Gwyn, Luis Alberto Urrea and Jess Walter; all of them have won various literary prizes, but none is a household name along the lines of Lee Child or Stephen King, whose stories will appear in the print edition of Esquire that same month.

But if commercial success is the point, then calling the books “Fiction for Men” is a puzzling decision: women are much more likely to read fiction. Male readers account for only 20% of the market. Esquire has chosen to brand its line of e-books with a name that essentially says “Women, Keep Out!” If that’s all it takes to get reluctant readers to read, then maybe Esquire should consider renaming the venture “Fiction for Boys”.

Fiction for boys might work.
At least that would find "something" of an audience:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBIC8JTQMMQ

[QuantumIguana]

A real man reads what he damned well feels like. I sometimes read on my lunch break, and I've had some people give me a hard time for reading. Not for what I was reading, but simply that I was reading. Apparently, reading is unmanly. I inform them, as politely as possible that they stuff their opinion in whichever of their own orifices suits them.

This appears to be giving "permission" for men to read. If you feel unmanly reading without permission, that seems pretty unmanly to me. I have more respect for those who simply don't want to read than those who will only read if they have permission.

[tubemonkey]

I'm more into monkey lit