Books, Arts & Manners: The Man Man

The Sibling Society, by Robert Bly (Addison-Wesley, 272 pages, $25)

ROBERT Bly is known as “the woods man,” “the tom-tom man,” or simply “the man man” thanks to the movement he founded to help men rediscover what he calls the “mythopoetic” roots of masculinity through reenactments of primitive male-group rituals. It involves campfires, animal skins, reverence for the tribal elder (Bly), and enough spears for round-the-clock performances of Aida in the major opera houses of the world. Bly described it all in his first book, Iron John, which cried out for satirization— and got it. The funniest send-up was Iron Joe Bob, by my partner in columny, Joe Bob Briggs.

About the Author

Florence King

Florence King was a contributing editor of National Review.

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The Sibling Society, by Robert Bly (Addison-Wesley, 272 pages, $25)

ROBERT Bly is known as “the woods man,” “the tom-tom man,” or simply “the man man” thanks to the movement he founded to help men rediscover what he calls the “mythopoetic” roots of masculinity through reenactments of primitive male-group rituals. It involves campfires, animal skins, reverence for the tribal elder (Bly), and enough spears for round-the-clock performances of Aida in the major opera houses of the world. Bly described it all in his first book, Iron John, which cried out for satirization— and got it. The funniest send-up was Iron Joe Bob, by my partner in columny, Joe Bob Briggs.