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.

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

After Red Cleaver, in 1959, helped Poopdeck Platt add 30 inches to the stern of his fishing vessel, the Bernice M, Platt took his boat out onto the waters of Kachemak Bay. (Photo courtesy of Ken Moore)
Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 5

Clarence Hiram “Poopdeck” Platt had already experienced two bad years in a row, when misfortune struck again in 1967.

This decadent, creamy tiramisu is composed of layers of coffee-soaked homemade lady fingers and mascarpone cheese with a cocoa powder topping. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A fancy dessert for an extra-special birthday

This dessert is not what I usually make for his birthday, but I wanted to make him something a little fancier for 35

File
Minster’s Message: Will all things really work for your good?

Most of us have experienced having a door of opportunity or a door of happiness closed.

Larry Opperman, host of “Growing a Greener Kenai” radio show on local public radio station KDLL 91.9 FM, shows off a carrot. (Photo provided)
Local gardener shares love of growing on radio show

“Growing a Greener Kenai” runs the first and third Saturday of each month, starting April 5.

Attendees admire “Neon Poppies” by Chelline Larsen during the opening reception for “Infusion” at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Finding fusion

Kenai Art Center juried show challenges artists to incorporate different elements into works.

Artwork by Daisy Jeffords and Morgan Chamberlain is displayed as part of “Secret Garden” during an opening reception at the Kenai Art Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Friday, March 7, 2025. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
‘Bringing life into something forgotten’

Kenai Art Center’s rear gallery show steps in ‘Secret Garden’

This chili uses ground turkey, light and dark red kidney beans, and plenty of cumin and ground chili. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Hearty chili to lighten the heart

This chili uses ground turkey, light and dark red kidney beans, and plenty of cumin and ground chili.

As his wife Bernice looks on, 43-year-old Clarence Hiram “Poopdeck” Platt poses atop a road sign welcoming him to Alaska. This 1947 photograph from the Huebsch Family Collection memorializes Platt’s first trip to Alaska, which became his home for the next 53 years.
Poopdeck: Nearly a century of adventure — Part 4

In 1947, their correspondence led to wedding bells, and the magazine subscription led them to make a new home in the Territory of Alaska.

File
Minister’s Message: With spring approaching, a reminder to shed earthly weights

The Bible tells us to lay aside the weights that may restrict us from doing what the Lord Jesus will have us do.

Most Read