2-stars
| This book took me much longer to read than I expected. The premise of the book intrigued me, but reading through it, I was very bored. The writing isn’t bad, but it is written in such a rambling way that it is easy to zone out. Overall, the book was okay. It was written over ten years ago so I think much of the insight is outdated. The issues that Vincent discusses men going through are the same (being the breadwinner, toughness, father-son attachments), but I think there is much more awareness of it today than ten years ago. The descriptions of people in the book really annoyed me. They are overly negative and demeaning. Vincent makes a lot of quick judgments about people based on their appearances and seems overly critical of them. I was waiting for her to say something nice, but she just went on and on about men’s beer belly’s and pathetic faces. Vincent was very honest in her writing, which it commendable, but I can’t help feel negatively toward her for her actions. While she notes the level of deceit and betrayal she sunk to, it still was difficult to read. I mostly just felt bad for all of the people she lied to and got close to under false pretenses. I think she crossed some lines in the book (sneaking into the monastery as a man) and while I think her goal was an important one, I think she took it too far at times. Okay book about masculinity, but there are definitely books with more insight on the subject. An interesting account of a woman living as a man, but very lengthy and drawn out. |