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How
To Be a Man:
Scenes From a Protracted Boyhood
Amazon,
Barnes
and Noble, Booksense,
W.W.
Norton.
"Smart,
funny, interesting..."
--Jonathan Yardley in The
Washington Post
"Beller
can write his butt off."
--Donnell Alexander in The
San Francisco Chronicle
"A
supremely enjoyable collection of essays written in clear, often very
funny prose."
--Adrienne Day, in Time Out New York
"Not
since I first read Joseph Mitchell have I felt so vividly and beautifully
transported to the streets of New York. Thomas Beller is a chronicler
of his own life but also of the life of the city, and there's a quality
of unbridled curiosity to his work which
make his essays shimmer with comedy and insight and exuberance. I absolutely
loved this book."
--Jonathan Ames,
author of Wake Up, Sir!
"The
best sections of his book . . . call to mind Raymond Carver in their clarity
of language and subdued emotion. A fine collection of essays that will
resonate with many."
--Publishers Weekly
"Elegant
descriptions and sophisticated insights that evince the hipness you expect
from a lifelong New Yorker and a sweetness and intimacy you might not."
--Carole Goldberg in The
Hartford Courant
"An
enjoyably mature read."
--Gilbert Cruz, Entertainment
Weekly
"
Beller's smooth prose and insightful analyses will appeal to fans of good
writing everywhere."
--Audrey Snowden, Library Journal
"Doesn't
show how to be a man so much as a mensch."
--Jacob
Heilbrunn, New York Times Book Review
"These
quite marvelous and darkly hilarious personal essays derive their power
from a shameless honesty, often about the most shameful moments, which
suddenly reveal a luminous upside in the author's comic retelling. Together
they give us a privileged view of how curiously attenuated and winding,
for many a young American male, is the long march to maturity."
--Phillip Lopate, author of Getting Personal,
and Waterfront
"Each
meticulous sentence is a crooked finger that lures the reader deeper into
his darkly funny world."
--Lauren Gilchrist, Columbia
Spectator
Editors' Choice: New York Times Book Review, Amazon.com
Table of Contents
Manhattan Ate My Car (read)
The Costume Party
Mother Goes to Hollywood (read)
Chemistry Set
The Drummer
The Birthday Suit
Portrait Of The Bagel As AYoung Man
The Problem with T-Shirts
A Biker in the City
Turtles In New York
The Breakup
The Tryout
Addicted To Love
The Last Days of Shakespeare & Company (read)
Scenes From a Playground
A Bike Messenger in the City
Strip Club
A Car Is Not A Castle
Walking The Dog
The Floating Armoire