Man, Interrupted: Why Young Men are Struggling and What We Can Do About It

Zimbardo, a psychologist known for conducting the 1971 Stanford prison experiment, and Coulombe tell a despondent tale in which digital technology—the same force that, in some respects, unites our society—is also tearing certain populations apart. There’s no real linear narrative, just a string of fragmented observations about young American men. The role of villain goes to online gaming and pornography, which, according to the authors, are driving their disproportionately male users away from reality; the authors only fleetingly acknowledge that women also use these technologies. The attention given to these two factors means that the treatment of other subjects, such as how boys are faring in public schools, feels simplistic and brief by comparison. The book draws extensive comparisons to how women are faring in schools and the workplace, but the discussion of gender tends toward generalizations. The authors’ observations are well researched and supported with quotations, but the discussion mostly feels ungrounded. The final chapters, however, turn to more practical ideas. What this book might lack in causal clarity, it makes up for with lucid and compassionate solutions for improving the lives of young men. [em](Apr.) [/em]