January ‘24 Recap

episode SUMMARY:

In this episode of the Books for Men podcast, host Douglas Vigliotti expresses gratitude for the support of listeners and discusses the concept of Books for Men. Vigliotti explains that while the show is aimed at inspiring more men to read, it is not exclusive to men and women may also enjoy the featured books. He then provides a recap of the books featured in January 2024, which included a nonfiction book called Free Speech and Why It Matters by Andrew Doyle, and two works of fiction: American Tabloid by James Ellroy and Dead Girl Blues by Lawrence Block. Vigliotti briefly discusses the themes and messages of each book and shares some notable quotes. He concludes by inviting listeners to visit the website for more information and to sign up for the newsletter.

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Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. So as always, I like to start these recap episodes with a thank you to everybody who listens to the podcast and everyone who has supported the podcast, whether it's via word of mouth, sharing it with friends and family, or even more to the people who are doubling down on that support in rating or reviewing or liking following. I can't thank you enough because that support helps more people find the show, which is important because we are indeed trying to inspire more men to read. And it's funny, this came up in a podcast interview that I did recently and I was forced to think about what makes a book for a man. And I don't know if there's something particular that makes a book manly versus not manly.

(01:04)

I surely think that there are stereotypes that we can point to that would maybe indicate one versus the other, but I don't necessarily look at it in that way. My reading tastes and preferences vary. I do tend to share a lot of crime on the podcast only because I am a big crime fan. I like crime fiction, I like crime movies. I think that it's a great lens to explore a lot of topics in a very entertaining and fun way. That's probably why you get more crime fiction and things that intersect with that genre, which by the way is a lot of fiction. But I don't want to make too much about that right now. I kind of got onto this topic because I was thinking about what makes a book for a man. And so circling back to that, the idea for this show is really just, I am a man.

(01:58)

I like these books, and I think if you're a man, you might like these books too. In no way does that mean women wouldn't like the books either. In fact, I think a lot of women would love the books that I feature on books for men, and I actually know for a fact because I've heard from some of them that there are female listeners to the show. So in no way, shape, or form is the show only for men. It's just these are books that I think men would like. And if I'm looking at it through the lens of fiction or principles of storytelling, I guess, or writing, then consider it more show and less tell. So every Monday I show you a new book, and the name of the show is Books for Men. Hopefully, between those two things compounded over time, it draws more people in, and more men who don't read, loosely read, or whatever, pick up a book, whether it's one that I feature on the show or it's one that they pick up on their own accord.

(02:58)

Either they're reading something that they might not have, and that's the point of the show to inspire more men to read. But I don't want to get bogged down too much on this because this is a recap episode. I might do a special edition episode where I hash out some of these things in more detail, answering questions like why I believe men read less fiction and more nonfiction, some of its nature, some of its nurture, and talk a little bit more about those types of things. But for now, I think this is a good place to leave it. And I want to pivot into the recap episode for January 2024. It was a sort of heavy month. I am going to probably do a little bit of a lighter month next month. And by heavy I just mean the books were very heavy, not necessarily in their content, but maybe in their content, but more so in a thematical sense.

(03:52)

They were sort of challenging the normal way of looking at something or societal norms I guess, or maybe standards not totally just slightly challenging, that kind of stuff. And so with that being said, it was a three-book month. It was one nonfiction book and two works of fiction. Let's just start with that first nonfiction book, and that was Free Speech and Why It Matters. It was by Andrew Doyle, and it's the first-ever political book I guess I featured on the podcast. It's sort of a manifesto on the importance of free speech and its role in a free society. It's timely, it's necessary, and I highly recommend anybody read it and approach it with no judgments. And the reason why I say that is because I think for the first time ever, maybe free speech has been really weaponized by different parties and people, depending on what you ascribe to, will just bucket you into this unjust category of human or American citizen, I should say if you are a supporter of the First Amendment in free speech.

(04:58)

Now I do have an extreme stance—I am a free speech absolutist. I talk a little bit about this in the episode, but two of the most important things that I hit on are self-censorship, which I see as a massive issue and one that is challenging and daunting, especially for artists in today's society for a lot of different reasons, technological, societal, cultural, there's a lot of pressure to fit in fear of ostracization and also just being outright silenced or canceled by the powers at be. And I think that there's great hypocrisy going on on both sides of the political spectrum right now in that free speech is under attack from every angle depending on what your political narrative is. Again, I talk a little bit about that in the episode, but I wanted to reshare my favorite quote from the book, and it might be one of my favorite quotes that I read all last year when I read this book. And that is …

(06:04)

“Good people should not abandon their beliefs when bad people claim them for their own.” And I think that quote from Free Speech and Why It Matters leads us perfectly into the first work of fiction for the Month, which is American Tabloid by James Ellroy. And in that book, the quote that I shared in the episode, and really the basis of the book or foundational element of the book is: “Facts could be bent to conform any thesis.” So if I combine that with what I just said about free speech, it's important to remember that ideas and arguments should have their own weight and their own validity as individual arguments, not bundled in with tribes of individuals because intention matters in life, and sometimes that gets lost in the web of our informational environment. And I think it's easy to lose the truth in a sea of narratives that are spun to us all the time by different people.

(07:11)

In a way, that's what my second nonfiction book The Gap was all about. And I think as a novel form, American Tabloid explores this really well because it's a novel that looks at the events that could have potentially led up to the assassination of JFK through the lens of the underbelly of society, basically to FBI agents and an ex-cop who are tapped to do the dirty work for the powerful players who shape society. It's wildly entertaining, but at the same time, it fractures this romantic notion of American idealism, and the things that we want to feel are true might not necessarily be true. And yes, it is a work of fiction, but again, thematically, this is the importance of a work like this. The second work of fiction and the last book of the month was Dead Girl Blues by Lawrence Block. It was a novel about a man who commits a heinous act of violence, gets away with it, and then has to live the rest of his life figuring out what to do about it.

(08:24)

It's a story that will challenge you in a lot of ways. And while I don't condone the actions of the protagonist, I do condone artists who are willing to stick their neck out there and create work that they believe in at any cost, even if it's tackling difficult subject matters. I talk a lot about this in the episode, one of the key quotes that I love that came from this book is: “A friend is one who knows our faults and doesn't give a damn.” I love this quote, but at the same time, it made me ponder and think, where is the line that one would draw with a true friend where they wouldn't have their back anymore? It's a really interesting thing to think about because your mind will go to some pretty crazy places, but to me, there has to be a point where you wouldn't be able to support that person anymore.

(09:23)

What is that point for you? Is it a crime? What crimes are passable? What would you be able to endure with the people that you love the most? Your closest friends in the world who know everything about you, or almost everything about you? Maybe not in an interior sense, but from a lived experience sense. So I don't know. I just found this to be interesting to think about. On that note, if you want more on any of these episodes, then I highly suggest you go back and listen to them. Since I gave you a large preamble, I'll wrap it up quickly here right now. Thank you for listening, and if you want more information, remember you could always visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for any of these episodes. As well as sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of every episode complete with full book and author information, all the best quotes, and newsletter-only book recommendations. Again, if you're interested in that, all you have to do is head over to BooksforMen.org.