Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation

From the notoriously contrarian author of Against Love, a witty and probing examination of why badly behaved men have been her lifelong fascination, on and off the pageIt's no secret that men often behave in intemperate ways, but in recent years we've witnessed so many spectacular public displays of male excess-disgraced politicians, erotically desperate professors, fallen sports icons-that we're left to wonder whether something has come unwired in the collective male psyche.In the essays collected here, Laura Kipnis revisits the archetypes of wayward masculinity that have captured her imagination over the years, scrutinizing men who have figured in her own life alongside more controversial public examples. Slicing through the usual clichés about the differences between the sexes, Kipnis mixes intellectual rigor and wit to give us compelling survey of the affinities, jealousies, longings, and erotics that structure the male-female bond.

PREFACE: Regarding Men 1I. OPERATORS 9 The Scumbag 11 The Con Man 27 The Trespasser 43 Juicers 54II. NEUROTICS 67 The Victim 69 The Lothario 82 Humiliation Artists 92 The Manly Man 106III. SEX FIENDS 123 Gropers 125 Cheaters 138 Self Deceivers 149IV. HATERS 163 The Critic 165 Men Who Hate Hillary 178 Women Who Hate Men 197CODA 207Acknowledgments 209