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Man Down: Why Men Are Unhappy and What We Can Do About It
'The most honest, most revealing - and funniest - exploration of male mental health I have ever read' Adam Kay'Matt Rudd may have written the most important book in a generation' Idle SocietyOn the surface, men today don't have much to complain about. At work, they still get paid more than women for doing the same jobs. At home, they still shirk most of the unpaid labour. Putting the bins out does not count.Beneath the surface, it's a different story. An alarming number of men end up anxious, exhausted, depressed - and very reluctant to admit they are. Even if they do everything that's expected of them in work, life and fatherhood, genuine happiness is still elusive. By midlife, their levels of stress are higher and their levels of wellbeing are lower - and work-life balance turns out to be just a cruel illusion.The evidence is clear and the system set up by men for men doesn't work for men either. It is making none of us happy.In Man Down, Matt Rudd takes the long view on this perplexing paradox. Drawing on stories from his own life, and the varied lives of the other men he has interviewed, he goes back to the beginning to consider what makes the modern man - how the seeds of midlife misery are sown in the school playground and cultivated through adolescence and into adulthood. By turns compassionate and provocative, Man Down asks the important is midlife unhappiness inevitable? Spoiler it isn't.
187 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 10, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 14, 2022
A good read, some interesting and maybe eye opening thoughts and ideas on why men struggle through the work years weighted down by the need to work, keep climbing the career ladder and earning as much as possible to provide for their family while suffering, usually in silence from crippling fear of everything collapsing around them. Rudd suggests that the way we as a society being up our boys from infancy and the perceptions ( both self and societal) we place on boys, teenagers, young men and mid life men cause this. The book is kept light hearted and there are laugh out loud moments, and suggestions of how to prevent / change things. Having said that, I'm not sure I would want my teenage boys to read this - it paints quite a bleak picture at times
February 28, 2022
Kan trygt anbefales for alle.
December 3, 2020
Journalist and author Matt Rudd takes a wry and humorous but honest look at the reasons why some middle aged, by-all-accounts-successful men find themselves demoralised and unhappy.
Rudd’s investigations and theories make sense: the gold star culture that starts at school, the addictive lure of technology, and the difficult of deviating from the career ladder amongst others.
A personal warning here as a female reader in a similar demographic to the target male audience of this book: I had that Athena poster as did 5 of my school friends and now our illusions are shattered!!
Rudd’s investigations and theories make sense: the gold star culture that starts at school, the addictive lure of technology, and the difficult of deviating from the career ladder amongst others.
A personal warning here as a female reader in a similar demographic to the target male audience of this book: I had that Athena poster as did 5 of my school friends and now our illusions are shattered!!
February 20, 2024
Great book! Sometimes these kind of books can become repetitive or feel like a lecture, this book is interesting and engaging, and whilst it isn’t a self help book it’s a must read for men who want to reflect on where they’re at!
June 3, 2022
Some repetition here but a good book, well worth a read.
June 7, 2023
Skimmed. Did not finish. Didn’t connect to me. Don’t judge it by my rating.
December 1, 2023
So worth a read, I learned a lot about the role society asks men to play. I will admit I have rarely thought about this and found this an interesting and enlightening read.
January 6, 2024
Fantastic, well written without the preachiness of self help, important.
Should be read by anyone with boys (or a male partner!!)
Should be read by anyone with boys (or a male partner!!)
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews