About this Event
Join us at Mrs. Dalloway's Bookstore on Sunday, April 26 at 6:00 PM when author Jordan Ritter Conn comes to the store to present his new book American Men: An Investigation. Jordan will be joined by Elise Craig for the conversation and will sign copies of his book after the presentation.
to preorder a copy of American Men.
Men wield outsized power across all major institutions. But they are falling behind across all measures of well-being and success. They include loving husbands and absent fathers, corporate strivers and displaced workers, the objects and instruments of incredible violence. They are half the population. And yet when mentioned as a bloc, it’s often to ask the question: What’s wrong with them?
American Men is a book that burrows deep into the lives of four men, exploring how each of them construct their relationship to masculinity, and how they navigate that relationship over time. They include Ryan, an amateur MMA fighter from the Akwesasne Mohawk territory, struggling to come to terms with both his sexuality as a closeted gay man and his draw toward bar room violence; Gideon, an itinerant, tall and handsome West Point graduate and former baseball star who unravels when he encounters challenges to his status as the white masculine ideal; Joseph, a Seattle law student whose marriage teeters on the brink of turmoil as he tries on his own to contend with the effects of childhood sexual trauma; and Nate, a young Ohio man still living at home and trying to establish security for himself in a rural pocket of a red state, where he’s under threat as someone who is Black, trans, and poor. Written with searing intimacy after five years of reporting, American Men interweaves their stories into a mosaic that explores identity, heritage, and the pressures and performance of modern American masculinity.
JORDAN RITTER CONN is the author of The Road from Raqqa: A Story of Brotherhood, Borders, and Belonging, runner-up for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He is a Senior Staff Writer for The Ringer and the host of the narrative podcasts "What If: The Len Bias Story" and "Sonic Boom," the latter named by The Atlantic as a best podcast of the year.
ELISE CRAIG is a freelance writer and the editorial director for the global design company IDEO. She has written for The New York Times Magazine, Wired, Marie Claire, The California Sunday Magazine, among others, and served as a longtime contributor to The New York Times for Kids. She is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and a member of San Francisco's South End Rowing Club.
THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 5:00 pm on April 26.
BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.
DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.
WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.
WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.
PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.
OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Mrs Dalloway's, 2904 College Avenue, Berkeley, United States
USD 0.00
