By Susan Faludi: Stiffed: The Betrayal of the American Man Hardcover – January 1, 1999

As I read Susan Faludi's ("Backlash") depressing opus about the "crisis" in American manhood, I kept changing my opinion of its author. At times I wanted to laud Faludi for insightful reporting - and sometimes I wanted to throttle her for general cluelessness. As a former journalist, I appreciate the sheer amount of legwork that went into her book: She interviewed scores of men, from construction workers to porn stars, and much of her analysis is thoughtful. But at times Faludi adopts the tone of a victor perched atop the pedestal of feminism, sitting subtly and condescendingly in judgment of pitiful males.Random thoughts: 1) Faludi's conclusion is that most American men are unhappy (and resistant to feminism) because their fathers - those heroes of World War II and members of the "greatest generation" - were cold, distant, and silent parents, providing little or no guidance to boys growing up in a consumer culture that rewards image over true worth. I'm sure there is some truth to this theory. But what about all of the mothers - do they make no impact on their sons? Other than in passing, Faludi makes no mention of the mothers.2) Feminism, like motherhood, gets a pass from Faludi as a contributing factor to modern male distress. Men who criticize any aspect of the women's movement are unreasonable, delusional, or scapegoating. Yet I was struck by this assessment of feminism by one of the men Faludi interviewed: "It doesn't seem to have made anyone very happy."3) I'm not convinced that the average American male is quite as tormented as Faludi would have us believe. But a 600-page volume of interviews with men who are basically happy and content would be an awfully dull read.4) Faludi's final words of advice to men who are unhappy or confused by our Brave New World? "Wage a battle against no enemy." Great. That helps.

I found this book to reveal a modern day history of our male population that I had not been as aware of as I should have been. In the course of the last century the changes in the breadwinner society has affected the male population to an astounding degree. Much confusion has resulted in where to place the blame in how each of us adjusts to our ever changing world. Faludi fills in a lot of missing information that helped me personally understand how difficult it is for all of us to adapt over time in the job market. I kept in mind my Father and Uncles, Brothers and Cousins while reading this book, which is filled with historical data and real life stories. The men portrayed here have known the pain found in failure to succeed and the forces at work that have brought them to their knees no matter how hard they worked.Just as I would wish the men in our lives would read her book "Backlash", it is equally important for us women to read "Stiffed".Faludi's writing style is thorough and well documented. Her notes at the end of her books are incredibly helpful.

Now and then, I have the disconcerting experience of reading a review that seems to be for a different book than the one I read. I have that experience as I read reviews for _Stiffed_. At the same time, I'm reminded of a high school english teacher who insisted _ad nauseum_ that "Death of a Salesman" was about the hearlessness of the american business community...Like _Backlash_, _Stiffed_ says a lot of things that people don't want to hear. Unlike _Backlash_, the more recent book isn't afraid to put the blame on consumer culture. That fact is missed by virtually every negative reviewer -- yet having actually read the book, I find it hard to understand how. Reading _Backlash_ was sometimes maddening for her refusal (and it did smack of refusal) to name a culprit; that weakness is gone in _Stiffed_.Yet still these negative reviews, most of them dismissive ("the most overrated journalist of the '90s...") in character, without any substantive criticism, proliferate. There's something here that people are afraid to hear. That makes it important for thinking people to read.

Sauldi does an lot of generalizing about an interesting subject. Her thesis will be highly useful for a subset of male culture and therefore can be a good place to get insights for pastoral care for men and women. It would be dangerous to extend her ideas to all men or culture at large, to overlook the dysfunction of the women in her stories, or ignore the general dynamics of family systems. She misses a part of the aerospace/military industry of the 1950's-70's. For the typical engineer it was often a nomadic culture where they followed the contracts from company to company, or from loser to winner until the late 1980's. She should heed the fact that she didn't lock up a solid premise. Douglas Aircraft was always looked upon as a step child to the McDonnell Corp., down to the way they placed the logo on drafting pencils for the left handed reader, so "Douglas" was ground off before "McDonnell."

Everybody should read this book. Hits home very heart rentching and real. Susan Faludi is an awesome person and researcher. She is the top of the top shelf. Total expert professional of researchers.

Faludi provides an eloquent analysis of where we are (circa the turn to the 21st century) in terms of gender issues, with a particular focus on masculinity and its challenges. She combines ethnography, interviews, and popular culture references to create a snapshot of these issues at that time. More importantly, she uses historical data and references to show how we got there, and thoughtful analysis to suggest effective ways forward. While this is a book that deserves to be read in full, it is easily dividable into sections for persons studying or doing research involving gender concerns.

I thought I bought the hard cover book.

Great read, book was in good condition and came very quick.

The book was listed as being in good or very good condition when in fact it was battered and covered in various stains.