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This is a Paper back edition. Fairly worn but fully readable and intact. Pages may include notes, highlighting, or minor water damage. May have remainder marks on outside edges. All images are stock photos and any artwork may look different than what is posted. This is a Paper back edition. Fairly worn but fully readable and intact. Pages may include notes, highlighting, or minor water damage. May have remainder marks on outside edges. All images are stock photos and any artwork may look different than what is posted. See less

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The Way of Men Paperback – April 10, 2012

by Jack Donovan (Author)

5,771 ratings

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What is masculinity? Ask ten men and you'll get ten vague, conflicting answers. Unlike any book of its kind, The Way of Men offers a simple, straightforward answer-without getting bogged down in religion, morality, or politics. It's a guide for understanding who men have been and the challenges men face today. The Way of Men captures the silent, stifling rage of men everywhere who find themselves at odds with the over-regulated, over-civilized, politically correct modern world. If you've ever closed your eyes and wished for one day as a lion, this book is for you.

Editorial Reviews

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"Jack Donovan has written a thought-provoking treatise on the essential struggle of men, taking on timeless concepts, in an honest examination of what manhood means to him. [...] while I didn't always agree with everything he said--I am a better man for reading it." - Sam Sheridan, A Fighter's Heart, A Fighter's Mind

"A thought provoking read on what it means to be a man today in a world that's increasingly finding masculinity undesirable and un-needed. Donovan makes bold and unapologetic arguments on what The Way of Men needs to be in the future." - Brett McKay, The Art of Manliness, Manvotionals

"Absolutely love this book! I found Jack's comments on the underlying primal instincts that motivate men and what can generate unity within a group to be both thought provoking and spot on from a leadership perspective." - Chris Duffin, AAPF and APA record-holding competitive powerlifter, coach, and gym owner.

"Peering behind the layers of civility we indulge in as a matter of pretense, Donovan explores the primal relationship between tribal identity and masculinity, and emerges endorsing a type of Nietzschean struggle for significance through conflict" - Brett Stevens, Amerika.org

"I read Jack Donovan because he's one of the few men writing about male issues with the skill and passion of a Roxane Gay or Margaret Atwood." - Chuck Palahnuik. Author, "Fight Club" (Hollywood Reporter 2018)

About the Author

Jack Donovan has been writing about masculinity, philosophy and spirituality for over a decade. He has spoken at the 21 Convention for men, and is a frequent podcast guest and host. You can follow his most recent work at jack-donovan.com.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Dissonant Hum
Publication date ‏ : ‎ April 10, 2012
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Print length ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0985452307
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0985452308
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.25 x 0.44 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #42,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #19 in Men's Gender Studies
- #267 in Sociology Reference

Customer Reviews:
5,771 ratings

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Jack Donovan

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Jack Donovan (1974-) has been writing and speaking about masculinity and philosophy for over a decade. His foundational book, The Way of Men, has sold over 100,000 copies worldwide and has been translated into French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, and Polish.

His most recent book, Fire in the Dark, presents a primal system of masculine roles and shows how those roles have been repeated again and again throughout the history of myth and religion.

Fire in the Dark introduced Donovan's philosophy, Solar Idealism. In 2022, he founded the movement known as The Order of Fire to further develop Solar Idealism and create a new Solar Culture.

With members of the First Men, Donovan has been publishing podcasts and print journals titled PH2T3R: The Journal of Solar Culture.

Donovan is an occasional speaker and often appears on podcasts to discuss masculinity, philosophy, and the challenges faced by men who want to live masculine lives in the 21st Century.

Jack Donovan lives in Arizona and is a purple belt in jiu-jitsu

Follow Jack on Instagram @starttheworld and on X @mr_jackdonovan

Customer reviews

5,771 global ratings

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Customers find the book well-written and thought-provoking, providing a great commentary on masculinity and historical views of the subject. The book receives positive feedback for its honesty and strength, with one customer noting its unencumbered view into social theory. While some customers find it fast-paced, others mention it drags, and many consider it not worth their time.

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Readability Insight Masculinity Strength Honesty Pace Value for money Book length

465 customers mention "Readability"423 positive42 negative

Customers find the book extremely well written and consider it a must-read for men, with one customer noting it gets right to the point.

"...stretch of fighting the ideas seem a bit flat, although they are eloquently argued and deliberately simplified for effect...." Read more

"...The text reflects on that without being an academic work. It is very easy to read and the author uses some dose of humor...." Read more

"...However, this book is a MUST read for men. My advice is, when you disagree or agree with him, check your emotions...." Read more

"The Way of Men by Jack Donovon is a long essay on the state of "Manhood" today. As such the book fall into three sections...." Read more

311 customers mention "Insight"275 positive36 negative

Customers find the book incredibly insightful and thought-provoking, with one customer noting it provides a fascinating look at social theory.

"...The pace is brisk, always salient, and convincing without pretense...." Read more

"...four virtues that have defined masculinity and helped human civilization survive from its beginnings...." Read more

"Learned a lot about what masculinity has been through history, was informative. Very manly book though and therefore a bit controverisial." Read more

"...The first half, maybe 2/3 of it are a thought-provoking--if simplistic-- analysis of the evolved behavior patterns utilized by our ancestors for..." Read more

142 customers mention "Masculinity"123 positive19 negative

Customers appreciate the book's exploration of masculinity, particularly its historical perspective and deep understanding of male dynamics.

"The Way of Men is a book which seeks to define what exactly makes a man who is "good at being a man" rather than a "good man" in..." Read more

"...is necessary to take the book for what it is: a critical essay on the current stagnation of many men that takes into account several facts related..." Read more

"...It is an examination of masculinity throughout history, and from before recorded history...." Read more

"...and begins to form his gang, he gains alpha status through action, intellect and promethean biochemistry, uplifts his comrades each to their own need..." Read more

38 customers mention "Strength"38 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's strength, describing it as a solid addition to MGTOW literature, with one customer noting its focus on character development.

"Mr. Donovan is honestly 'ranting' but he's doing so coherently and courageously, especially in opposition to the current 'spirit of the age' which..." Read more

"...right touch-points characteristic of traditional manhood--courage, strength, mastery, honor, and brotherhood (which he refers to as gangs)...." Read more

"...I agree with the 4 virtues of courage, mastery, honor and strength as being the main traits that define us from women...." Read more

"...Men actually are stronger than women and have higher basil metabolic rates than women do. So, men are better at violence than women are...." Read more

24 customers mention "Honesty"24 positive0 negative

Customers appreciate the book's honesty, describing it as truthful and unapologetic, with one customer noting it provides a realistic perspective rather than being politically correct.

"...-written, or wordy, but well balanced by its sheer profundity and steely candor...." Read more

"...It is not. It is a book grounded on current events and reality. One only needs a mind clear of bias to grasp the truths this book serves...." Read more

"...This book is extremely well written, precise, and brutally honest. A must-read for all." Read more

"...The truth will set you free." Read more

10 customers mention "Pace"6 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the pace of the book, with some finding it fast while others say it drags.

"...The pace is brisk, always salient, and convincing without pretense...." Read more

"...I take one star off for the kindle format. It lags and hangs on the ipad. The highlighter conks out...." Read more

"...Miles and miles ahead of Roosh, but not at the level of a Neil Strauss, Rollo or Charles Bukowski..." Read more

"The beginning was a little slow for me so it took me a while to get through but once the author began talking about the real world and "the way of..." Read more

49 customers mention "Value for money"12 positive37 negative

Customers find the book to be a waste of money, describing it as boring and amateurish.

"...and call all men participating beyond the "gang mentality" weak, incompetent, afraid and not courageous and dishonorable...." Read more

"...Most damning is the fact that the book is deficient under its own framework. There is no honor in anti-intellectualism...." Read more

"...In the end, the book became comical as it approached the more absurd. But in some ways it was still enlightening, hence my 3 star review...." Read more

"...the chapter "Bonobo Masturbation Society", which is worth the price of the book alone...." Read more

43 customers mention "Book length"10 positive33 negative

Customers find the book repetitive and lacking in profundity, with one customer noting it spends 161 pages covering everything.

"...I found the ending of the book disappointing as Jack closes with this advice "You need to learn how to read each other and work together as a group...." Read more

"Good treatise on Masculinity. However, the conclusion of the book is rather nihilistic in the options afforded humanity...." Read more

"...And also the book is very short he has two other books in this series so me personally I advise you to buy all three all three comes out to make a..." Read more

"...It is not too long, and not too short. Con's: 1...." Read more

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Jordan p.
a reality check for men
Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase

I like how bro specified men's nature "way of the gang" in contrast to modern (more civilized) ideas of what it means to "be a man" or be masculine. I liked the chimpanzee and bonobo analogies he used to separate natural "primal" masculinity from more modernized effects of civilization, nationalism, globalization, feminism, and other factors that ultimately make men suppress their sexual and masculine nature to fit into society. He went to some extremes on certain topics like when he mentioned the Mexican cartel, but it was to get his point across that revolutions and mass change in societies stem from small gangs challenging the bigger, established, power structures. He also had some opinions on men wanting validation from other men and made a point that, a man who distances himself from other men for comfort is basically less masculine. I didn't like it, but I had to agree because when you separate your self from acts of natural masculinity (like cracking jokes with the fellas, fighting to assert dominance, etc) you are choosing comfort over the very things that make you a man... this book made me wanna tap back into my natural masculinity for sure.

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Badazz
Needs to Be Volume One of a Muli-Volume Study
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2015
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
The Way of Men is a book which seeks to define what exactly makes a man who is "good at being a man" rather than a "good man" in other ways-such as religious. The author, Jack Donovan, argues that the way of the man is the way of the gang and one needs strength, courage, mastery, and honor as the four cardinal virtues of being good at "being a man." The book is partially a response to the manhood books that started to come out in the 1990s back when there was the "90s male" that was supposed to be attentive to the needs of women or something.

In many ways the book is also a sort of spiritual spin off to the movie, Fight Club, where bored, High IQ, suburbanites seek enlightenment by getting out of their safe, consumerist lifestyles by means of fighting. Just as with fight club, there is a cry against the soul destroying emptiness of the modern world in this book too. One can sense the frustration of many young men who look out at the safe, rule ridden modern world and ask is there more? Can one find more through valorous struggle?

The book is therefore like a primer on basic manhood for younger men who live in a well ordered society. Its focus is on the basics of warfare in a hunter-gatherer tribe which has an allure when the bills, and other chains of civilization seem to be heavy.

To this reviewer however, the book was a bit light on the spiritual substance and it ignored the fact that men must still operate in a civilization. This reviewer was in many regular school-yard fights as well as combat in Iraq and it is difficult to see that a return to a gang and fighting is some sort of path to enlightenment. I feel that my military decorations are just vanity-however hard won. While Donovan makes an excellent case that his study strips down manhood to its bare essentials, it seems that civilization is here to stay and navigating it as a man remains an important skill. Remember, we just had a severe financial downturn and terrible recession from 2007 to 2009 and the world didn't fill up with buckskin wearing Berserkers in world-restarting Mannerbunds. Even in my combat time I experienced only a short second of frenzied savagery and even then the normal bonds of civilization and order returned quite quickly. The four virtues of Freemasonry: Temperance, Prudence, Fortitude, & Justice thereby offer a different, more nuanced look at being good at being a man. While reading this book I was not able to get away from the idea that General Stanley A. McChrystal, very much a man who was good at "being a man" went on to teach a course about "managing failure" after he left the service. Not every challenge is protecting the tribe from wild animals, and not everything is one long successful march to "manliness."

In short, if you've done a large stretch of fighting the ideas seem a bit flat, although they are eloquently argued and deliberately simplified for effect. Essentially, this book needs to really be entry one of a multi volume work. Donovan needs to take his ability to simplify complex ideas and show how to continue to be good at being a man when one is not a youth on the far, savage frontier-but older-and navigating the corridors of civilization while carrying out deadly serious business in clean, well lit rooms where reasonable men don't bother to raise their voices.

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Juan
Controversial, but bold and candid
Reviewed in the United States on February 13, 2024
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Some people are terrified by the approach and even the cover of this book, and considering it is a text that touches a sensitive and polemical topic in the contemporary western culture, it is easy to prejudge and brand the book and its author with well known negative labels. However, it is necessary to take the book for what it is: a critical essay on the current stagnation of many men that takes into account several facts related with the biology and the cultural development of our species, and offers those facts as the fundamentals for a more empowering and authentic men lifestyle. The text reflects on that without being an academic work. It is very easy to read and the author uses some dose of humor.
There are also some subjective views in the book, but it is acceptable since it is not a treatise of human behavior nor anthropology, and the author does not aim to stigmatize anybody.

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3 people found this helpful

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Mark Anthony Tredway
Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on March 23, 2025
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
For months I’ve been looking for a reading books that pinpoint why I’ve been feeling that something is missing. This is the one the has hit the nail on the head. A big thank you to Jack for something truly amazing, that in hind site is probably going to ruin my life as I know it.

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Tjerk
Every man should read this book
Reviewed in the Netherlands on August 9, 2023
Format: KindleVerified Purchase

Spot on

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Filip
Great read
Reviewed in Poland on September 29, 2022
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
The book really resonated with me. Before I read it I had many thoughts on the subject, many similar to that of the author's. But it was all a chaos in my head. The Way of Man really helped me to sort out and put to words the thoughts that were troubling my head for a long while now.
The Way of Man is certainly radical - in the best possible meaning of this word. Radical: not "extremist" but "fundamental". It answers all the questions about the essence of "being good at being a man" and "being a good man". It also takes shots at the modern world and modern "feminist" understanding of manliness. In my opinion The Way of Man is great book for all man, but especially young man like myself, who grew up in times of masculinity being dissuaded and regarded as evil.

The book is written very well. It reads lightly even though English isn't my native language.

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Timo Kopke
Interessante Sichtweisen
Reviewed in Germany on December 16, 2023
Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
Interessante Sichtweisen und Motivation um nicht zu der verweichlichten „Männerwelt“ von heute zu gehören.

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Jeff Wood
Return to the Basics of Masculinity
Reviewed in Italy on June 26, 2017
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Jack Donovan's premises are two: first, that the natural way of men is as members of a gang, team or other male group; second, that this natural condition has been under attack for some time now, to the detriment of masculinity and male psychology.

The first proposition I accept, despite growing up in conditions which left me with solitary and individualist tendencies which have never left me. When in late childhood I was able to join, not gangs but teams I grew, and my solitary tendencies became merely individualistic. Recently I was accused of being a lone wolf type, and to the accuser's surprise took that as a compliment. Jack does not deal with my sort, but it is a masculine trait, and I still see his point about men in groups.

Jack Donovan's second premise, that masculinity is under attack, I thoroughly agree with. I also agree with his contention that if the attack is successful, western civilisation is in deep trouble. This is not merely a matter of defence against the current invasion, though that is important; it is also the necessity of elbowing aside the forces and people who are diluting, restricting and feminising the western male and making it harder for us to progress. Civilisations good and bad are built, maintained, defended and advanced by men. Destroy masculinity, and you destroy your civilisation; then see how you like it.

I am not as young as I used to be. Jack Donovan presents an analysis which I was half way towards before reading the book, and I am going to make sure my grandsons also read it, and understand the argument, and how important it is.

I am really pleased that some young men, and some young women, are seeing through the nonsense that has been debilitating the West for half a century, and that they are pushing back.

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Zheng MA
The book that any man would not want to miss
Reviewed in Australia on October 27, 2022
Format: KindleVerified Purchase
Kudos to the writer and his awesome series about masculinity, I think its a must-read for any man.

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The Way of Men Paperback – April 10, 2012

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5.0 out of 5 stars a reality check for men

5.0 out of 5 stars Needs to Be Volume One of a Muli-Volume Study

4.0 out of 5 stars Controversial, but bold and candid

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent

Top reviews from other countries

5.0 out of 5 stars Every man should read this book

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read

5.0 out of 5 stars Interessante Sichtweisen

5.0 out of 5 stars Return to the Basics of Masculinity

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that any man would not want to miss

a reality check for men

Needs to Be Volume One of a Muli-Volume Study

Controversial, but bold and candid

Excellent

Every man should read this book

Great read

Interessante Sichtweisen

Return to the Basics of Masculinity

The book that any man would not want to miss