Written by: Jason Lankow, Ross Crooks, Joshua Ritchie, and Brett McKay
Photo by the nonist
Whether it be a book on adventure, war, or manners, there is so much to learn about life’s great questions from these gems. Let us know in the comments which of these you loved, hated, and the books that meant a lot to you and should have made the list (you can even get really indignant about your favorite book). And without further ado, this is our list.
To see a list of just the titles and authors names for easy printing, click here.
Amazon Listmania: The Essential Man’s Library Part I
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Set on the East Coast in the roaring ’20s, this American novel is a classic. From it we learn that often the wanting of something is better than actually having it. It is relevant to every man’s life. Furthermore, one true friend is worth infinitely more than a multitude of acquaintances.
“He smiled understandingly-much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles… It faced–or seemed to face–the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.”
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli
Considered by most to be the authoritative text on statesmanship and power (how to obtain it as well as an illustration of its trappings), although certainly a shrewd one.
“From this arises an argument: whether it is better to be loved than feared. I reply that one should like to be both one and the other; but since it is difficult to join them together, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved when one of the two must be lacking.”
Essentially, Machiavelli advocates letting your people have their property and women, but making sure that they know what you are capable of doing if they step out of line.
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Through the beloved Billy Pilgrim, we see the central themes of Vonnegut’s humanism along with his satirical take on how disgusting it is when humans don’t use their (limited) free will to prevent simple atrocities. A great example of how we use humor to deal with hardship, and the conflict between the way heroism is conveyed through stories for actions in situations that perhaps could have been avoided altogether.
“So then I understood. It was war that made her so angry. She didn’t want her babies or anybody else’s babies killed in wars. And she thought wars were partly encouraged by books and movies.”
1984 by George Orwell
If you are already worried about the information that your computer is collecting from you, re-read this one and you will feel much better! Or, perhaps, you will throw your computer in a river. This is the classic text for the will of the individual to maintain his privacy and free will, and how easy it is at the end of it all to just try to blend in and go with the flow to avoid making things even worse by speaking out.
“But it was all right, everything was all right, the struggle was finished. He had won the victory over himself. He loved Big Brother.”
The Republic by Plato
Since every man can use a fair portion of philosophy in his literary diet, the origin of legitimate western thought might be a good place to start. Plato’s most well known work breaks down topics of which you should have a fundamental understanding such as government, justice, and political theory.
Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky
The final work of Dostoevsky (commonly accepted English spelling of the name) has a lot of meat to chew on…it strikes at the core of who we are and what drives us. Ultimately, for all of our strength and wisdom as individuals, we are often frustrated by our failures to do what we know we must do (or at least think we should do) and need the power of forgiveness in our lives. Many important thinkers consider this to be one of (if not the most) important masterpiece of literature, including Sigmund Freud and Franz Kafka (who did not think quite alike, to say the least).
“So long as man remains free he strives for nothing so incessantly and so painfully as to find some one to worship.”
The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
Holden Caufield, if nothing else, should serve as a point of reference for the angst and cynicism that you perhaps once had, or ideally never had. If you thought like him when you were 16 or 17 years old, you are forgiven. If you still identify with him, you need to find some more joy, somehow…fake it ’til you make it. Do something.
The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith
The fundamental work on free market policies: “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own self interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love, and never talk to them of our own necessities but of their advantages.” Want an education in economics? This book is a great start.
For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
Set in the Spanish Civil War, this novel explores who man becomes when faced with the prospect of his own death. It is worthwhile for all of us to consider what we would give our lives for, as this defines what and who we truly love. This is one of the great examples of how war has shaped men, past and present, and has in part defined the image of a true hero who is courageous even when it has brutal consequences.
“You learned the dry-mouthed, fear-purged purging ecstasy of battle and you fought that summer and that fall for all the poor in the world against all tyranny, for all the things you believed in and for the new world you had been educated into.”
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
Arguably the best work from the ever-quotable Wilde, this novel is a guide for how to live a life of pure decadence. It is packed with impeccable wit, clever one-liners, and an excessive amount of egotistical vanity. At the very least, this book will show you the glory and the pitfalls of being the best looking chap around.
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
One of the most controversial books of its time, the Joads are “Okies” who head west to the fertile valleys of California during the Dust Bowl era of the 1930s. Because of the social solutions that the book proposed, and its depiction of work camp conditions, some groups attacked the novel as communist propaganda. However, it was widely read as a result of the national attention, and is a classic example of a man doing what he had to do for his family and persevering through all plights and conditions.
“Fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live – for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken…fear the time when Manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe.”
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
With a revolutionary and controversial view of the future, Huxley’s satiric take on the “utopia” of tomorrow has provoked reader’s thoughts for decades. Depictions of genetically enhanced embryos predisposed to a specific social class cast warning signs for technological interference with human life.
How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie
This is not a Dr. Phil self-help book. Citing intimate examples from the likes of Rockefeller, Charles Schwab, and FDR, this comprehensive guide is all about how to get ahead in business, relationships, and life. Read one chapter a day for the rest of your life. It will make you a far better man than you would ever be without it.
Call of the Wild by Jack London
The tale of a domesticated dog forced to adapt to a life of work in Alaska during the Yukon gold rush. Most of us can recall rooting for Buck in the ferocious battle to be the leader of the pack. Make sure that you embrace the benefits of competition to push yourself to become better in your work, but do it without biting and/or killing co-workers.
“…men, groping in the Arctic darkness, had found a yellow metal…These men wanted dogs, and the dogs they wanted were heavy dogs, with strong muscles by which to toil, and furry coats to protect them from the frost.”
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris
The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt shows what made Theodore Roosevelt the great man he was. Reading this book will inspire you to get off the couch and start moving in your life. Harvard graduate, New York Assemblyman, rancher, historian, author of several books, New York City Police Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, Governor of New York, and commanding officer of the Rough Riders are all titles that TR had before he became president at 42.
Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss
Every boy can stand to learn a bit of old fashioned resourcefulness from their pops. Finding yourself on a deserted island is surely the way to learn these skills in a hurry. Tree forts, treasure hunting, and constant adventure mark the Swiss Family’s 10-year run. Lesson number one? Shipwrecks make for some good literature.
Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
An idealistic vision from the man who fueled the Beat Generation, a life on the road without concern for wealth or even stability, rather an enjoyment of surroundings, whatever they may be. This is a great book for reminding us to get away from technology, at least for a day, to appreciate nature and some of the more simple pleasures of life. Don’t feel inferior to the beatniks if you still like driving your car…don’t ever let hipsters give you guilt trips.
“I felt like lying down by the side of the trail and remembering it all. The woods do that to you, they always look familiar, long lost, like the face of a long-dead relative, like an old dream…”
The Iliad and Odyssey of Homer
(2-for-1 special) Though the authorship is disputed, the place of these two epics in the man canon is not. Roughly based around the events of the Trojan War, these poems are likely a great collection of common Greek folklore surrounding the events in those days of fierce political turmoil. It is rumored that there were 10 epics in all, and 8 were lost over time. This may be a blessing in disguise, because, if they were around, you would never get to the rest of this list.
Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
The logic here is simple: any book which has the influence to have coined terminology commonly used in our society for decades on end should be perused based solely on principle. Nothing is worse than a man being caught using language of which he is unfamiliar with its proper meaning or origin. Also, it is a great book.
Walden by Henry David Thoreau
A bit of isolation never hurt any man. Thoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in Walden, a cabin tucked deep in the woods near Concord, Massachusetts. This work of non-fiction describes the changing of the seasons over the course of a year and was intended to give the author an escape from society in order to achieve a more objective point of view. A real man would take this sabbatical himself, but the book should suffice for those of you who are employed.
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Primal instincts. With only the most basic of needs to consider, human nature takes a different approach. A fictional study of the struggle for power and the unspeakable things that man (or child) will do when taken outside the order of civilization.
The Master and Margarita by by Mikhail Bulgakov
There is nothing more manly than a bout with the Devil. An entertaining commentary on the atheistic social bureaucracy in Moscow in the 1930s wherein Lucifer himself pays the town a visit to make light of their skepticism regarding the spiritual realm.
“As a result he decided to abandon the main thoroughfares and make his way through the side streets and back alleys where people were less nosy, and there was less chance that a barefoot man would be pestered about long johns that stubbornly refused to look like trousers.”
Bluebeard by Kurt Vonnegut
Written as the autobiography of Rabo Karabekian, of course with Vonnegut’s own war experiences drawn upon as inspiration to the aging artist who narrates his own story. It is a hilarious take on abstract art, and takes jabs at both the inflated self-importance of the artist and the people who simply refuse to look beneath the surface.
“My soul knows my meat is doing bad things, and is embarrassed. But my meat just keeps right on doing bad, dumb things.”
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Exploring the “virtue” of living for ourselves, this monster of a book (1,084 pages in my version) is certainly worth plowing through as it is simply a great story. The fundamental concept is that our world falls apart when individuals stop seeking their own satisfaction through personal achievement and feel a sense of entitlement to the accomplishments and work of others. This book challenges us on many levels…you may find it conflicting with your value of other people, her treatment of God, or any other beliefs you already hold. Yet, who can argue with, “The most depraved type of human being … (is) the man without a purpose.”
The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka
Photo by Celeste
As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a monstrous vermin.
None of us want this to happen. Well, most of us don’t. Kafka employed terms from law and politics, and was always concerned about some vague, oppressive bureaucracy that sought his ruin, though seeming cool and detached. We can take something from the very approach of Kafka to his work and find a balance between reading too much meaning into an event and, on the contrary, caring too little and being completely disillusioned.
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This is a very good list of books. However, I have to agree with some of the other commentors. There aren’t enough chink and raghead authors on the list. It’s too Americanized or maybe too Anglocized.
Great list. I wouldn’t delete any of these, but I do agree that many must-reads are missing, including two of my favorites, Naked Lunch by Burroughs and Johnny Got His Gun by Trumbo. Glad to see Catch 22 made it, though. That book changed my life.
I have read some (Fitzgerald, Tolkien, Heller, etc.), but now I feel quite ashamed. I could not for the life of me finish The Call of the Wild (wolves aren’t that damn interesting), and I still haven’t gotten to Homer yet.
I’m a girl, 14. I liked Camus, Doyle, Hugo, Steinbeck, Tolstoy, Hawthorne, and I LOVED A Separate Peace. Any suggestions? I don’t want to read anything too heavy (Aristotle’s Poetics began to slur after pg. 20), but I want something challenging once in a while. I’ve seen bits of The Republic and was pretty interested. Poetry is good, too. I have Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, and Dickinson is cool. I also enjoyed Shakespeare and Tennyson.
So, is there anything you guys think I might find interesting? I have loads of free time in the summer, and the library is reasonably furnished.
In response of A’s post. I suggest Hemingway, Salinger (The Short Stories) and if you are up for plays, Tennessee Williams.
What about Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein?
Nice list, though very American, perhaps some British and Czech writers? Somebody mentioned Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting, which I agree with. How about Milan Kundera (the unbearable lightness of being or immortality) or Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange?
If you want to understand why the world is falling apart and where we went wrong, there is one book that will help your understanding and help you look at old ideas in a new light.
Read “Ishamel” by Daniel Quinn
where is The Count of Monte Cristo
Just in case the proprietors of the Art of Manliness are still monitoring this comment thread and taking suggestions, here are a few authors/books I think should have been on this list over some of the ones listed (say, Vonnegut), or should definitely be on the second list of books 101-200. A few of them have already been mentioned above.
- William Faulkner – The Sound and the Fury
- Aristotle – The Nicomachean Ethics (should be read with the Politics)
- Carl von Clausewitz – On War (Clausewitz is to Machiavelli as Tolkien is to Harry Potter. I exaggerate only slightly.)
- Charles Dickens – David Copperfield (one of the greatest bildungsromans ever…how could it _not_ be on a list of books men should read??)
- Charles Dickens – A Tale of Two Cities
- Victor Hugo – Les Miserables
- Graham Greene
- Joseph Conrad – Heart of Darkness (This story has three important levels. First is the literal journey into Africa. Second is the tale about colonialism. Third, and by far the most important, is the psychological drama, which has nothing to do with race relations or Africa.)
- Dumas – The Count of Monte Cristo
- Tolstoy – War and Peace (I mean, really. No Tolstoy??)
- Tolstoy – Anna Karenina
- Meditations of Marcus Aurelius + On the Shortness of Life by Seneca
- Tocqueville – Democracy in America (should be read alongside the Federalist Papers)
- The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer + The Road to Serfdom by Friedrich Hayek. Because every person should grapple with the problem of totalitarianism, and these authors experienced it.
The list is good but I don’t think there was a single Australian book.
Ouch
I’d give these a try as well
“Romulus, My Father” – Raimond Gaita
“Cloud Street” – Tim Winton
“A Fortunate Life” – A B Facey
“Tomorrow When The War Began” – John Marsden
“The Power of One” – Bryce Courtney
“Oscar and Lucinda” – Peter Carey
“For The Term of His Natural Life” – Marcus Clarke
Also Kipling probably should have been included what with “The Jungle Book”
Great selection I loved Slaughterhouse 5 and Lord of the Flies. I’ll have heard of a couple of the other ones on the list and will look into picking them up at some point! Thanks for the list!
“Thoreau spent two years, two months and two days writing this book in Walden, a cabin tucked deep in the woods…” Deep in the woods/half mile from Emerson’s house where he went to dinner a couple times a week… same difference right?
Of course, any list of 100 will have some glaring omissions. But to ignore the entire science genre on a list of manly books?
A few suggestions:
“Understanding Physics” by Isaac Asimov, for a well-written, thorough but accessible introduction to the development of modern physics
“The Elements” by Euclid, for a master-class in logical thinking, and an appreciation for why mathematics is the queen of the sciences.
“The Logic of Scientific Discovery” by Karl Popper, to understand the need for rigorous skepticism in science.
Speaking of philosophy, there’s nothing about existentialism to recommend it as an especially manly philosophy as compared to, say, pragmatism. So, how about dropping Camus in favor of “Pragmatism” by William James.
A man should be well-rounded. The high-school lit books, good as they are, take up too much space. Do we need both Machiavelli and Sun Tzu? And T.R. is way overrated. For just a little variety:
“The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham (it worked for Warren Buffet)
“The Story of Art” by E.H. Gombrich (nothing effete about it)
“Renovation” by Michael Litchfield (because a man’s home is his castle)
“Getting Things Done” by David Allen (an essential skill for every man)
I was going to make a wearily indignant comment about the near complete lack of women writers in this list, and THEN – then, I looked at the title of this blog.
Oh. Ok, it makes sense now.
Funnily enough, I’m a young woman, and I’ve read a lot of these books. I’m still quite womanly. I bet if you guys read Doris Lessing’s Sci-Fi (zomg good) or even “Jacob’s Room” by Woolf, you’d still be just as manly as you were before. And, maybe even a bit more attractive.
Just saying. :)
Also, re-read “The Great Gatsby”. F. Scott Fitzgerald may have been a brilliant writer, but he’s not exactly fond of women. I don’t think hating women is manly, or that you have to judge the writer by his prejudices, but wow. He didn’t like us, at all.
Also, there are a lot of Western authors here. Naguib Mahfouz is the most famous Egyptian writer, and for a reason. He writes with equal sensitivity about the frustrations of young men trying to become something in a hostile world and stay decent, and the women whose lives are subjugated to men. It’s a cool glimpse into a different culture.
Anyway. Stay manly.
You guys need to give Chuckie Dickens some more props!
Great Expectations should at least be listed.
Also, throw in some shakespeare while your at it!
a few things.
1. Glad the Bible made it on here. It really cannot be overstated how influential the Bible has been or how often it is referenced
2. I would have taken Camus’ The Fall over The Stranger
3. I may be wrong, but I don’t see any poetry on the list. Poetry may not seem manly, but I believe it certainly is important to be able to read (and if lucky, perhaps understand) poetry.
Well done list though. Truly a great start.
Also, add Khalil Gibran’s The Prophet.
Great list……except you missed my favourite book. “To kill a Mockingbird” I think you”ll find i’m not the only one who’s spotted that!
This list of books undoubtedly were popular in their day, but the list only seems to have books that have been written many decades ago or longer. What about any current books? May I suggest a recent book that just came out called: The Masseur by author john m martin. It’s a story about sex as an addiction that needs to be addressed as an addiction. A current story that is very viable and realistic in our times that offers real questions, and even possible remedies too! Great book!
I am going to suggest tuesday with morrie and nichomean ethics. for a dash of sensitive, touching story, and a look and the morals of mankind
diary of a wimpy kid was the coolest book i read . I theink you should read it.
I am going to read ninth grade book i hoe you injoy the book. i hop i like the book.i hope you read the book soon.
Your blog and the contributions of others have helped me work my way through a divorce, a long layoff from work, improved fatherhood and into manhood during the past couple of years. But you’ve missed what I consider THE book about being a man ….. “Iron John” by Robert Bly. It’s an amazing study of how a man becomes a man, and it helped me to define my weaknesses and pointed me toward my own self-discovery and formation of new manly goals.
As this list suggests, no single thought or book or relationship will make a man. A man is comprised of years of experience and knowledge and wisdom. Stay the course, Brad. Your work has been very helpful to a lot of us. The first step is realizing that you may not be the man you could be. The second is to man up and do something about it. Reading any of these books would be a good next step.
Fire in the belly – Sam Keen is a must read for all men who have not read it. this site is great. Keep up good work!
A great list. I found your site today. Very interesting, in a sea of ….. well not interesting.
Keep up the great work.
I would suggest two from C.S.Lewis the great Divorce and the Four Loves!
Rock on…..
Kerouac?
He wasn’t a man. Why are you including him?
I honor Ti Jean – he is one of my final heroes, but, he does not fit at all into your stories and definitions of a “man”.
Why include him?
Way to ruin the final sentence — the absolute best part — of Nineteen Eighty-Four
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
The Old Man and the Sea by Hemmingway
The Red Badge of Courage by Crane
The Stranger by Camus
The Trial by Camus
What a clown . . . you’ve got four goddamn books on Teddy and yet you don’t have the Jon Lee Anderson’s biography of Che Guevara (who was MUCH more of man than Teddy) or Vladimir Lenin.
very good! i m very happy with russian classics choises. I d recomend Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh, Michel Hoellebecq’s books are all written for men in my opinion:) in short —great list
Have you actually read Atlas Shrugged? The book tries to use a man holding on to stolen property as a parable about the right to [someone else's] property, and said character is such a marty stu that he has to teach his captors how to torture him. The plot is more holes than matter, and the characters are shallow attempts to deify the author’s opinion while vilifying all who disagree with her.
I find it questionable that you would put such things as Animal Farm and Hamlet on this site. It would have been very funny if Walt Whitman’s work was posted on here. Another thing is that you put Ralph Waldo Emerson’s lit. on here. I’m just going to go out there and say it. WTF? (not thaaaaaat manly, my dear…)
Excellent list, hope I don’t offend by adding one more. It came to mind as soon as I read the title. John Grisham’s ‘The painted house’. Entertaining read as well as plenty of practical knowledge.
No Mao. You forgot Mao-sedung on Gurilla warfare. You also forget the Big red Book. And no mention of Marx
If I could add two to the list:
“Last of the Mohicans” Possibly the first ‘western’ novel ever written, and a tremendously great read!
“Beau Geste” A beloved aunt, three brothers, a diamond, the French Foreign Legion, and Taureg raiders. Perfect recipe for a book that kept me up late many nights growing up.
Very nice list for the most part, but without a single Bradbury novel, I struggle to take it seriously. Fahrenheit 451 and/or Something Wicked This Way Comes should certainly be perused by anyone who desires to be deemed “well-read”.
While not as epic in scope as some of its apocalyptic peers, Fahrenheit 451 is set apart from other dystopian novels by it’s clear parallels to issues facing Soviet, and, particularly, American society at the time of its writing. Back then, censorship was at an all time high in the states. Today, the thought of the government telling us what we can and cannot read is absolutely ludicrous, something that could never happen, but from the start of the Cold War all the way to 1957, it was a very nominal thing. True, George Orwell’s 1984 uses many similar parallels, but herein the difference lies. 1984 tells us why communism won’t work for the Soviet Union, while Fahrenheit 451 tells us why communism in the Soviet Union won’t work for America, and, indeed, the rest of the free world. If its language could be understood by a literarily challenged three-year-old, its cultural significance would still warrant it’s placing on this list.
Unlike the afore mentioned Fahrenheit 451, Something Wicked This Way Comes deserves recognition simply because it is a beautiful work of literature by one of America’s most beloved and renowned authors. The way Bradbury’s words flow together, along with his stunning use of imagery, turns what at first glance is an inaccessible, and, let’s face it, downright odd plot, into the foundation of a towering work of literary genius, a work worthy of kings, but to be read by all.
Please don’t mistake my passion for disrespect. I cannot claim to have read a third of the books on this list, and, assuming you’ve read them all, you are certainly more well-informed on the subject of “essential literature” than I. My arguments are based purely on what I know of the books I have read from this list, and on what I know of Ray Bradbury’s position on the hierarchy of American authors.
Two other omissions which I won’t take the time to defend:
The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Missing from the list: Three Kingdoms.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romance_of_the_Three_Kingdoms
This is a big omission. Darwin’s “Origin of Species” changed the world and influenced much in the way that we see ourselves – where we’ve been, where we’re going, and the importance of struggle, and the purpose of our existence. It unleashed a storm regarding the history and destiny of humankind. It continues to stir debate in the fields of science, philosophy, and theology. “Guns, Germs, and Steel” by Jared Diamond is a Pulitzer Prize winner that adds the importance of culture to such origins. Stephen Hawking’s “A Brief History of Time” is another readable essential on our origin from the perspective of the stuff found in star dust. All provide spiritual, scientific, and convincing explanations of what it means for a man or woman to discover what it means to be alive on all levels from personal to cosmic – with every other life form in-between.
Ah, great list of books. But really, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk is an essential for any man of the 21st century. Really questions what the male pysche goes through in it’s life.
No Dickens?
what about the anarchists cookbook?
seriously have to agree with Drew on Fight Club. I figured in the top 20
Some awesome books on this list. However, blatant American Christian bias. For example, The Bible. Seriously? That text is, with some notable exceptions, horrifically written. Not to mention the rampant sexism, racism, ignorance and advocacy of genocide. Frankly, the positive messages contained within are far outweighed by the outright evil.
“Of Human Bondage”
“The Razor’s Edge”
“Cakes and Ale”
“The Moon and Sixpence”
All by the great W. Somerset Maugham.
Great site. Just found it today!
These are all excellent. The autobiography of Malcolm X was a pleasant surprise. He would be labeled a fip-flopper today because he was very introspective and kept redefining himself based on the truths he uncovered during his life. I recommend Malcom X’s autobiography to all men. It will give you the courage to look at your deepest held believes, challenge them and then reinventing yourself accordingly.
One book I would like to suggest adding to the list is “The Richest Man in Babylon” by George S. Clason. This is 144 pages of sound personal finance told through a number of individuals who reside in the authors imagination of ancient Babylon.
If one assumes the site is aimed at undergrads this list makes good sense.I read all but one of these by age 17. Old favorites are certainly worth revisiting. But for a mature man other works are more cogent.
You left out
Pimp: story of my life Icbergslim
48laws of power; r.greene
Ovid : Art of love
Meditations by Marcus aurelius
I think the Fahrenheit 451 or any other books by Ray Bradbury should be on here. Also Star ship troopers.
Here’s a good book for men: “The Adventures of Kavalier & Clay”. First of all, it’s a great book. Second, it’s about a duo of comic book writers in the 40′s and 50′s. Third, it contains war, sex, magic, revenge, violence, superheroes, religion, and…..wait for it…. a hot chick. That alone should be enough to put this book on any guy’s reading list — but this book is also about young men growing up and learning about teamwork, friendship, perseverance, excellence, leadership, responsibility, loyalty, acceptance, and family. I highly recommend this one.
Did I miss Tarzan? It has to be required reading! The book “Hell I was there” about Elmer Kieth! Pumping iron–about Arnold! Then last but not least “Beyond body building” by Pavel Tsasoline!
Catch Me if you Can by Frank Abagnale should be added. It is great and shows what makes a person a confident man as well as a con man.
I’ve read all but half a dozen on the list. It seems provincial (emphasis on Steinbeck, Vonnegut, Teddy). I miss:
Nabokov’s Lolita
Checkhov’s Stories
Flaubert’s Madame Bovary
Mann’s Magic Mountain
Robert Frost, or any poetry for that matter
Dickens
Patrick Leigh Fermor (he kidnapped the German commandant of Crete during WWII, after he’d walked at age 19 from London to Istanbul.)
Toltoy’s Anna Karenina
not to mention Kingsley Amis’s Everyday Drinking.
To Mike, yes, you missed it, Tarzan is on pg. 3!
whew, was I glad to see the Bible on the last page, also can’t help but notice how many of these books were required reading throughout jr. and high school.
I think my taste for books has also moved more toward non-fiction books. For those I’d recommend:
Talent is Overrated by Geoff Colvin
The Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham
The Man’s Book by Thomas Fink
Great book collection, a few more I would add to the list but you covered all of the best ones so far! There’s some cool reading material on http://www.nextluxury.com As well the ones you posted should be good if you’re looking for an enjoyable reading experience that offers you some insight and growth of knowledge.
I loved ” The far pavilions ” by m m kaye
Almost all of these I was required to read in school. Back then people gave a shit about great literature. These poor kids.
I studied physics/chemistry in school and was too busy with science to read hardly any of these. Now I’m in my 30s, getting caught up, and checking them off one by one. Nice to see this list is heavy on the Dostoevsky. After Brothers Karamazov I had to read them all. No Solzhenitsyn though? Maybe the 3 volumes of GULAG is too much, but a little Ivan Denisovich couldn’t hurt.
To Hell and Back didnt make it?
hi im grateful for the list and read kafkas metamophesis on recommendation, which was great.
however it is very american and too much western/ big war books for me. Maybe i missed it but “in Cold Blood” by Capote is amazing (and american which obv helps), plus “Wasp Factory” by Ian Banks or time machine by someone was incredible.
Don’t put in an epic classic if no-one will enjoy reading it.
I would add:
Touching Spirit Bear – Ben Mikaelsen
Great choices, great site.
I think you should add Economics in one lesson.
Why?
Well, economics surrounds our lives and economics in one lesson is so short and well written, nobody has a reason not to read it.I’d say for the private person it’s even more important than The Wealth of Nations.
What about:
Papillon – Henry Charrière
Centennial – James A Michener
A couple of Richard Dawkins books,
Douglas Adams – probably the Hitchhikers books,
Isaac Asimov – Foundation series,
Dune,
The Bible, The Koran, and any other religous books,
Som Sun Tzu…
I don’t know – I always think the next book you read should be from a totally different genre from the last. Sticking to a particular type of book, genre or author doesn’t show much diversification….
I would suggest reading anything written by Timothy Egan. He goes all out in researching his books like The Big Burn (about Teddy Roosevelt and the single most destructive wildfire in American history) and The Worst Hard Time (about the incredible human toll the Dust Bowl wrought on the Plains). Very informative and very personal.
I like the books chosen, as well as many of the suggestions. Someone mentioned ‘“The Intelligent Investor” by Benjamin Graham’. A fine choice, but I usually recommend “The Richest Man in Babylon” by G. Clason as it’s a quick, yet still quite informative, read.
For a science bent, I would suggest Hawking’s “A brief History of Time”, Feynman’s “QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter ” and Dava Sobel’s “Longitude”.
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Thanks for sharing this with us..All are great and creative for one to read :)
Thanks for the list! Any recommendations for stories about fathers and sons? Preferably from the father’s view.
Nice list, though I’m missing The hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams, Watership Down (Richard Adams), The little prince (Antoine de Saint-Exupéry),…
I guess there are just too many great books..
I really can’t believe that not one single Harold Robbins book has been mentioned…
Harold was a pioneer of the exploitation of inner-workings of the classic man’s mind. Saying things most men couldn’t bring them selves to say….
His words strike deep from books such as “A stone for Danny Fisher”.
I believe all should really check one of his books out.
I would also recommend “Night” by Ellie Wiesel. I was happy to see the list. I have a lot of reading to do now!
My Awakening by Dr. David Duke
Dispossessed Majority by Wilmot Robertson
Imperium by Francis Parker Yockey
Might Is Right by Ragnar Redbeard
This Time The World by George Lincoln Rockwell
and finally…
Which Way Western Man by William Gayley Simpson
All worthwhile men should read and understand these books.
I have to say this is a great list. I only have two issues with it. The first is a common one is that it is rather Anglicized but that is a very common complaint. The second issue I have with this list is it is missing two important texts needed to make informed political decisions. These are “A Theory of Justice by John Rawls and “Anarchy, State and Utopia” by Robert Nozick. These texts present the egalitarian and libertarian approaches to justice in a very detailed manner. Personally I think that if you want to read The Republic, The Prince, and Leviathan then these books are essential to get a complete view of justice.
These are great ideas. I am a non-reader, but lately wanting to be less dumb. I think I’ll try reading some of these books!
Ken you are a rascist bastard.I read some of these books the great gastby is the one that I remember most because It teaches to keep on dreaming about things.Today there just arnt enough dreamers
The Abolition of Man, by C.S. Lewis. Read it.
Good list for sure but lacking modern hard hitters like ‘Into Thin Air’ and ‘The Art of Waking Dreams’ and though it’s not new I gotta say ‘The Long Walk’ is about the manliest book out there.
I agree with Jack, Into Thin Air and The Art of Waking Dreams would be good additions
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Great list. I’ve read alot of these books, but I’m inspired to read the ones I haven’t.
Here’s a couple more suggestions (at the risk of being yet another complainer of list omissions):
‘Ourselves to Know’ by John O’Hara (anything by O’Hara for that matter. Someone – I think it was Harold Bloom – called him the “real F. Scott Fitzgerald)
‘Patriotism’ by Yukio Mishima (for a view on manliness and honor in post-war Japan)
I also noted that the Sherlock Holmes stories were omitted.
cheers.
It’s not a ‘classic’ but I would recommend The Anarchist’s Tool Chest by Christopher Schwarz. Although it’s ostensibly an instructional book on traditional woodworking, Schwarz has alot to say about self-sufficiency in the modern world. Plus, there’s nothing more manly than building a tool chest entirely with hand tools.
No James Bond? C’mon now…
A great list, but I would like to see at least one Travis McGee novel (John McDonald). Travis was a manly (and ethical) man, and written for easy reading adventure.
There are some noteworthy entries on this list, but it really doesn’t show much range. 4 books related to Roosevelt? How many Steinbeck novels? 3 Dostoevsky novels but no Tolstoy?
A few glaring omissions: No Faulkner? Really? Faulkner vs. Hemingway was the gentlemanliest of feuds back in the day. Edgar Allan Poe’s tales are so integral to modern pop culture that it’s almost criminal to ignore him. And people before me were quite right to point out the lack of Bradbury.
For more modern novels, I will always suggest The Corrections, by Jonathan Franzen, and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, by Michael Chabon.
Capital by Karl Marx. Read it.
Moby Dick and to kill a mockingbird
Enjoyed your list. I’d include Iris Murdoch – The Sea, The Sea.
James Joyce is my pick for the old academy of the overrated.
Although there are some amazing books on this list, I’m disappointed in the lack of female writers. Some of the world’s greatest literature has been written by women. A man cannot be very manly if he excludes literature written by the other sex. I also agree that this is a very American influenced list and lacks some of the world’s greatest writers, like Dickens, Hardy, Pullman, and Salman Rushdie – just to name a few. There seems to be a lot of repeat authors as well, I think doing something like picking a top book by one author and then being able to have a more diverse list that is more inclusive of the many amazing authors that have been left out would make this list so much better. It’s a good start, that’s for sure, but it is lacking some of the world’s greatest literature, which is VERY disappointing.
What about “To Hell and Back” Audie Murphy’s autobiography? Gates of Fire? Hagakure/Bushido?
You forgot one excellent book that I think should be included on this list: Lincoln the Unknown by Dale Carnegie (an outstanding and very well researched biography of Abraham Lincoln).
The Discovery of slowliness by Sten Nadolny…………a Must !
Onde hundred years of solitude should have been on the list too..
Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained; one of my all time favorites. I’ve read it at least 4 times. If you think it’s hard to read imagine having to write it…blind like Milton did.
Great list, I’ve read most of those books. My fav to this day is catch 22. Glad to see it made the list.
Although fairly “new” I would have liked to see into the wild on there.
I can’t believe you’ve left out Sidhartha by Herman Hesse.
Too much credence paid to American writers in my opinion. The vast catalogue of European and Asian literature that has existed before American literature must surely dominate on any “essential” reading list. Agree with many of the books though- especially Brothers Karamazov.
What about War and Peace?
The book that set me on the path to enlightenment:
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Good list, lots on there I’ve been meaning to read. But seriously 3 Dostoyevsky and NO TOLSTOY? Anna Karenina! I was expecting to see DH Lawrence as well. Jim Harrison and Edward Abbey would be golden additions too.
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