Male Menopause

A good many men (and women) may scoff at the title of this provocative book in which psychotherapist Diamond (The Warrior's Long Journey Home) asserts that men experience ""hormonal, physiological, and chemical changes"" similar to female menopause, complete with associated emotional upheaval. Diamond contends, in fact, that ""there are many more similarities than differences"" between the male and female midlife passages. The two significant differences are that men can continue to procreate, and that women's hormonal changes are much more rapid and acute than men's (""women fall off a cliff and men sort of roll down the hill""). Predictably, there is an emphasis here on ""erection dysfunction"" and a wealth of information on hormones and general midlife health care. Diamond reaches beyond these issues, however, to those of the so-called men's movement. He attributes the rising instances of violence among young men to the ""monster-boy masculinity"" he finds within our insufficiently fathered culture. He calls on midlife men to stop clinging to their youth and become the ""elders"" young men need ""to teach them what it means to be a father, how to love and live with the mother of their children."" While sometimes overstating his case (""without the active involvement [of elders] even the healthiest nuclear families are doomed to failure""), Diamond nonetheless presents a compelling case for men to embrace their midlife passage and to move on to their ""second adulthood"" as mature mentors. Major ad/promo; author tour. (Sept.)