The thing about men is that there is no single “thing.” The men featured in this story collection are fathers, sons, grandfathers, husbands, lovers, and loners. They are (or have been) teachers, models, gigolos, hypnotherapists, school superintendents, tattoo artists, lawyers, crematory workers, and casino employees. Some are victims, others are victimizers. All struggle to find stability or, at the very least, comfort in a world that challenges their assumptions about manhood as they search for footing in the rubble of a crumbling patriarchy. There are kindnesses and cruelties in these stories; there are successes and failures. But pull back the curtain on the central characters in The Thing About Men, and you will find that they are all men you know.
“These unique stories include humans and other animals—from dogs to pandas to animal tattoos—that serve as characters to reveal the mongrel, spotted, sometimes loving relationships between men and womenb. Many of these stories have won awards, some are premise pieces, all are interlaced with dry humor. Here is a gifted collection that probes into our animal nature and, once read, it will not be forgotten.”
—Lee Hope, Founding Editor-in-Chief, Solstice: A Magazine of Diverse Voices and author of Horsefever, a SPD best-selling novel.
Injuries and afflictions abound in The Thing About Men. Gregory Wolos keeps his compelling collection attuned to complications of recovery, while illuminating, with care and craft, the wounds most in need of wary monitoring: those that persist beneath ‘the top layer of things.’ In story after fine story, Wolos urges all of us to delve deeper.”
—Matthew Pitt, author of These Are Our Demands, Midwest Book Award winner, and Attention Please Now, winner of the Autumn House Prize
