The 75 Books Every Man Should Read

Esquire, May 2013.

"An unranked, incomplete, utterly biased list of the greatest works of literature ever published. How many have you read?"

Collected Stories of John Cheever
He knew better than anyone the darkness that hides behind the costume of a carefully manicured lawn.

Deliverance, by James Dickey
A reminder of how close we are to animalism, and because there's so much more to the book than that scene.

Blood Meridian, by Cormac McCarthy
Just try sleeping after the scene in which the Apaches thunder over the hills wearing the dresses of the brides they've killed.

The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Freud and Einstein both hailed it as a masterpiece, and Kurt Vonnegut claimed that everything you need to know in life is smashed down into this book. It still is.

The Known World, by Edward P. Jones
Free black people who own slaves. Slaves who know the world's brutality and, more shockingly, its beauty.

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, by Raymond Carver
"That morning she pours Teacher's over my belly and licks it off. That afternoon she tries to jump out the window." And that's not even the best line.

The Good War, by Studs Terkel
All you'll ever need to know about men, women, war, peace, work, home, and just who the people called Americans really are.

American Pastoral, by Philip Roth
One of the few not about Roth. It's about that guy you idolized in high school. And gloves. And you.

A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, by Flannery O'Connor
"She would of been a good woman... if it had been somebody there to shoot her every minute of her life." Wouldn't we all.


The Things They Carried, by Tim O'Brien.
No one else has written so beautifully about human remains hanging from tree branches.

A Sport and a Pastime, by James Salter
Remember your college buddy's girlfriend, the one you were in love with? Because of her.

The Call of the Wild, by Jack London
A book about dogs is equally a book about men.

Time's Arrow, by Martin Amis
You've never seen the Holocaust from this angle and with this much ferocity. Backwards.

A Sense of Where You Are, by John McPhee
It's about how two men can be made better just by sharing each other's company.

Hell's Angels, by Hunter S. Thompson
Because it's his first book, and because he got his ass kicked for it, and because in the book and the beating were the seeds of all that came after, including the bullet in the head.

Invisible Man, by Ralph Ellison
Born in an epic fist-fight or forgotten in the sewers, no character is as clearly heard as the man who is never really seen by the world around him.

Dubliners, by James Joyce
Plain and simple: "The Dead"

Rabbit, Run, by John Updike
Because it's one of the few not about Updike. It's about that guy you idolized in high school. And kitchen gadgets. And you.

The Postman Always Rings Twice, by James M. Cain
Teaches men about women. Also, there's not a single postman in the book.

What are the other books ? Read the complete article!

also from Esquire:

The Authors Every Man Must Know
And their one book you must read, from Stephen King to Shakespeare
http://www.esquire.com/features/essential-knowledge/top-authors-list-0310

10 Essential Books to Read Before You Die
Manhood, America, sports, politics, sex. These are the subjects men should know — and these are the authors who can teach you.
http://www.esquire.com/features/essential-knowledge/top-books-for-men-0310