male tshirt template on the mannequin on white background (with clipping path)

male tshirt template on the mannequin on white background (with clipping path)

There are aliens among us

There are aliens among us.

That’s how it might seem when you’re dealing with members of the opposite sex. You often feel, for instance, as though you speak different languages. Surely, you see the world in ways they don’t, and they intuitively understand certain things you never will – hence, they must be from another universe or… something.

But you love ‘em anyhow, and so does Laura Kipnis. In her book “Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation,” she writes about some she’s known.

While rifling through a bunch of her old critiques and essays, Laura Kipnis, a “daddy’s girl who grew into a wayward woman” realized that many of those articles were about men, mostly those of the rascally, “immoderate” kind.

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

Despite having written extensively about them, “men are still a foreign country,” she says, but she’s drawn to them, particularly those who “laugh too loud and drink too much… who have off-kilter politics and ideas.”

Men like Larry Flynt, publisher of a notorious men’s magazine, about whom Kipnis wrote, never thinking that she’d actually meet him – but she did, several times. His magazine was “disgusting” but she found Flynt to be an interesting, multi-layered convention-breaker. He “challenged” Kipnis at her “corked-up core.”

Or, men like Ron Galella, “celebrity stalker-photographer” who trailed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis for much of her life. He annoyed her, sued her (and vice versa), and paid little attention to court orders in order to get her picture. Today, he considers Onassis as somewhat of a muse but, says Kipnis, “it’s not exactly evident that being an artist and being an upstanding guy were ever one and the same thing.”

There are the “juicers” who are criticized for doing whatever it takes to get a leg-up on the competition. There are the vulnerable and “Lotharios,” both of whom seem to make a mess of relationships; and men who get into trouble for their bumbling attempts at “regular human mating conduct…”

Overall, says Kipnis, there’s “something delicious” about the list she’s made here “in search of our split-off other halves…” It’s not a definitive list, and was never meant to be so. Still, she promises, “Consider this an interim report.”

While I have to admit that “Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation” is wonderfully, wickedly barbed, it’s also a bit of a challenge.

Author Laura Kipnis points out a lot of things that many women aren’t brave enough to say out loud or, in this case, to put to paper. Her insights are as sharp as her wit but, because of the many literary references and nods to other critics here, there’s a definite East Coast / New York aspect to some of what Kipnis writes. That may not resonate quite so well with anyone unfamiliar with those figures.

Still, savvy readers will be rewarded by filling in those blanks, which enhances the observations and the enjoyment. If you can do that, you’ll understand that “Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation” is, down-deep, a profane, zinger-filled love letter to the bad boys of this world.

 

The Bookworm is Terri Schlichenmeyer. Email her at bookwormsez@gmail.com.

More in Life

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Donna Shirnberg rehearses”Picnic” at the Kenai Performers Theater near Soldotna, Alaska, on Saturday, April 26, 2025.
Small town America grapples with big emotions

Kenai Performers stage playwright William Inge’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama “Picnic.”

Attendees gather to dance and to listen during a performance by Blackwater Railroad Company, part of the Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series on Wednesday, June 7, 2023, at Soldotna Creek Park. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna Music Series announces lineup, starts June 4

The Levitt AMP Soldotna Music Series will bring performances to Soldotna Creek Park each Wednesday.

Individual Artist Awards logo. Photo courtesy of the Rasmuson Foundation
Rasmuson Foundation accepting applications for Individual Artist Awards

Project Awards are for short-term projects that clearly benefit the artist and their development.

Nikiski Bulldog Theatre actors rehearse “All Shook Up” in the Nikiski Middle/High School Auditorium on Saturday, April 26, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Elvis-themed musical brings music and moves to Nikiski stage

“All Shook Up” combines the familiar tunes of Elvis Presley with Shakespearean narrative of romance and identity.

These sweet, stuffed pancakes, called hotteok, are found in Korea, and they make a perfect after-school snack. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Sweet bread to help savor the moments

If this stage of his childhood can so quickly become a memory, how fast will the rest of it fly by?

File
Minister’s Message: Experience the abundant life Jesus has for you

Life of all forms is definitely abundant in most parts of the world.

Historic Elwell Lodge Guest Cabin is seen at its new spot near the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge’s Visitor Center. (USWS)
An enduring legacy — Kenai National Wildlife Refuge cabins

A tremendous wealth of our local history is captured in one unique, entertaining work.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
Life in the Pedestrian Lane: Survival skills

We compensate all our lives for one thing or another.

tease
Off the shelf: Time and space and the human heart

Contemporary novel combines historical and science fiction for a gripping, emotional journey.

Most Read