Men's Book Clubs, Making Reading Relationships
Males Have A Unique Opportunity For Bonding Through Best Sellers
Feb 12, 2009
The philosopher John Locke said "a sound mind in a sound body is...a full description of a happy state..." The ancients went further saying that we are four-sided beings: physical, emotional, intellectual and spiritual. Ignore any of the sides and a person becomes unbalanced. Men can usually find plenty for the physical side, but arguably, book clubs can provide solace for the other components.
The Motivation
Ironically books by men made a compelling argument for book clubs as did statistical studies on reading. Three authors in the 1990s gave an impetus for men to explore their own issues.
- Robert Bly's book Iron John (1990) made it permissible for men to be male and have their own rites;
- John Gray's Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus(1992) stated that there were significant differences between men and women. One metaphor was that men go to the "cave" to contemplate problems while women want to confront issues like a "wave";
- James Hillman, an American psychologist, wrote The Soul's Code: In Search of Character and Calling (1997) which says men must also lead the examined life.
Men's book clubs are sites and avenues for such reflection. There are gender differences in reading preferences but Statistics Canada (1998 Canadians' Reading Habits) showed that men read as often as women. For instance,
- although more females read books than men, 68% to 54%;
- 27% of men are reading at least a book a week;
- and both sexes read at least a book a month with almost the same frequency, about 35%
A quarter of Canadian men are reading 52 books a year. Also men realize that reading helps their children. Statistics Canada revealed that parents with literacy practises like using public libraries, reading books, newspapers and magazines will result in their teens having higher literacy scores (2003 study on Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey).
Men's book clubs are growing. They explore their themes in conspecific company. It certainly does not mean that men's book clubs are misogynous but they are gatherings where men can flex their other-sidedness in a locker room-esque setting.
Organizing
There is plenty of on-line assistance for the organization of book clubs. The Beagle Books Men's Book Club offers interviewed advice on its first year experience. The tersely named Book Club of Cambridge, Ontario began over 10 years ago when two friends at coffee decided to broaden their interest in reading to include other male friends. The first six members realized that they were each fathers of daughters only and so included books that dealt with that theme, such as Timothy Findley's The Piano Man's Daughter. Some of the reasons for the club's longevity follow:
- Flexibility- emphasize that it is a social outing foremost. Although discussion around a book or theme is the focus, free flow and random chat means finishing the selection is not paramount.The Book Club varies its approach from reading the same book, to book by an author, to a theme. One favourite recurring topic is Extreme Adventures.
- Regularity- each new year, each member comes with two ideas for reading. A schedule is agreed upon, dates and place set. Usually whoever has suggested a selected topic leads the discussion.
- Meeting Place- always a pub for a brew and pub grub. It alleviates the pressure to clean a house and avoids the competition of improving on previous menus. It's conducive to a locker room atmosphere. The meeting rarely exceeds 2 hours.
Men's book clubs can help male fitness by paying attention to their four-sidedness in a cave setting.
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