© Columbia University Press
Men to Boys: The Making of Modern Immaturity
Paper, 328 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-14431-5
$24.50
/ £17.00
September, 2008
Cloth, 328 pages,
ISBN: 978-0-231-14430-8
$29.50
/ £20.50
"[A] perceptive, eloquent book." — Publishers Weekly
"Gary Cross slides through twentieth-century culture in loping, eloquent paragraphs. He gives us informed wryness—as when he observes that the patron saint of modern manhood has morphed from Cary Grant (mature) to Hugh Grant (not)—and then tells us what it means." — Dan Zak, Washington Post
"[A] thoughtful journey through the male-strom of modern masculinity." — Kay Hymowitz, Wall Street Journal
"An interesting take on the history and development of boy-men . . . Highly recommended." — Library Journal
"A thought-provoking read for men and women of all walks of life." — Futurist
"Cross contributes important lessons to gender and masculinity studies in this roller coaster ride through an intersection of biography and history . . . Essential." — Choice
"[This] copiously researched, subtly argued, and lucidly written account of modern immaturity . . . serves as a needed hair shirt for the regressive adult." — Christopher Benson, Weekly Standard
"An important contribution to our understanding of major shifts in cultural values in the second half of the twentieth century." — Lisa Jacobson, H-Childhood
"[E]xtremely readable, informative" — Dr. Moore, The Family in America
"Gary Cross is one of the most original scholars in the field of American cultural history, and Men to Boys is the most complete survey of images of adult masculinity on television and in the films, magazines, and popular literature of the twentieth century. It is hard to imagine a more comprehensive cultural treatment of the subject. A blend of solid historical research, personal history, and challenging argument, this book addresses a contemporary issue with flair. Essentially about the fragility of male adulthood and how 'becoming a man' has been fraught with difficulties in every generation, Men to Boys provides a convincing narrative of how recent generations changed in a dialectical manner, producing the 'boy-man' of today." — Howard P. Chudacoff, Brown University, and author of Children at Play: An American History
"A master historian explores a sea change that has taken place in the conception of manhood over the past three-quarters of a century. Men to Boys is a serious work of scholarship combining a wealth of historical knowledge with compelling cultural critique. Gary Cross's book contains the best, most succinct summaries that I have read of the history of video games, thrill rides at amusement parks, and representations of masculinity in film and advertising. His discussion of the psychological effects of video game violence is a tour de force, moving well beyond the simplistic and sterile debate about whether such games provoke aggressive and cruel behavior. Original and thought provoking, Men to Boys is a model of 'contemporary' cultural history." — Steven Mintz, Columbia University, and author of Huck's Raft: A History of American Childhood
"With a novelist’s eye for the absurdity of contemporary culture, Gary Cross brilliantly traces how postwar American culture turned a profit from encouraging grown men to remain perpetual boys. Not afraid to put his own life into the story, Cross traces an accelerating rebellion by men against growing up and growing old since the 1940s. He clearly lays out an argument about how contemporary men have become Peter Pans and Adam Sandler characters as they have lost their role as the main family provider. " — Elizabeth Pleck, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign