In the days before caustic masculinity was recognized as such, when men could be men, and women could be, well, dismissed, abused, and ignored, along with so many other choice words. Thankfully, though, the public-school systems and Universities taught us to think for ourselves, and, with the help of our mothers, sisters, and friends, we were able to see past that dark tunnel of masculinity. But our fathers were still our fathers, and we loved them regardless of their foibles as this elegant and elegiac memoir shows. Tom Junod took me back to my childhood, and I saw my father, and with an honesty I don’t have, shares with us his father warts and all.
In the Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man by Tom Junod, (List Price: $32, Doubleday, 9780375400391, March 2026)
Reviewed by Pete, McIntyre’s Books in Pittsboro, North Carolina