The Man’s Book: The Essential Guide for the Modern Man

From the author who gave us “85 Ways to Tie a Tie” comes this “essential guide for the modern man.” And by modern, Fink apparently means precontemporary. His is a world where metrosexuals never existed and technology left no footprint beyond the sending of a text message. Odd for a writer who is also a physicist at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences. Nor does he exhibit the slightest hint of cultural irony in this all-man almanac, and that, in turn, makes for a certain type of macho charm. Or maybe it’s just the decidedly British tone of the work, which has been available in the U.K. since its 2006 first edition. Factoid lovers will find it hard not to enjoy the curious and random collection of lists, charts and instructions. Learn how to choose your best man or how to pick the best urinal in a public bathroom. View the Hamilton-Norwood scale of male pattern baldness, or a diagram showing “Eight Ways to Lace Your Shoes.” Chivalry, guns and tree houses are all dwelled upon in-depth. Learn a bar trick, carve a turkey, start a campfire. While Fink uses his powers mostly for good, a section on “How to Start Smoking” is misguided at best, alarmingly advising readers, “There are a number of advantages associated with smoking which may for some offset the known disadvantages.” (May)