Art of Manliness:

100 Must-Read Books: The Essential Man’s Library. Not a bad list; I like the fact they put “The Art of War” and “Don Quixote” next to each other.  A subtle tinge of the ironic. When I briefly worked on Wall Street in the 80’s, I encountered many Quixotes reading Sun Tzu.  I’d include “The Practical Cogitator” to introduce young men to the habit of thinking, early on. It’s even more important in these short-attention-span times.  Four books on Teddy Roosevelt is a bit much; he’s an admirable man, but swap one out for the current excellent bio of Aaron Burr.

In looking at these as an overview, I can’t help but feel all these books dance around the issue of male atavism, never hitting the nail clearly on the head in such a way that an individual is guaranteed to understand their own male instincts and the control/management thereof.  Exactly why does the solo hero, beating the odds, surviving unsurvivable perils, man-as-master-of-his-own-fate, always resonate so strongly?  This is not to critique AofM; just the various authors, books and plots.  Whether you work it out on a bike, weights, tennis court, golf course, hunting ... all men have a primitive streak that must be managed one way or another (or not, in the case of some bloody novels).  Novels tend to dance around the issue, whereas biographies may touch upon it ... but neither ever clearly label it.

Maybe I’m wrong, maybe science has passed this theory long ago.  I believe one must respect the id, give it room to neanderthalize in appropriate venues. The result is that men are generally happier and nicer to be around.

The nearest list I can find for women (in the short time I have to look), is this one: The 100 most influential books by women. If readers find a definitive list of “100 must-read books for women”, put ‘em in the comments.

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