Iron John: A Book About Men - Softcover

Bly, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0306813769 ISBN 13: 9780306813764

Publisher: Da Capo Press, 2004

Synopsis

In this deeply learned book, poet and translator Robert Bly offers nothing less than a new vision of what it is to be a man.Bly's vision is based on his ongoing work with men and reflections on his own life. He addresses the devastating effects of remote fathers and mourns the disappearance of male initiation rites in our culture. Finding rich meaning in ancient stories and legends, Bly uses the Grimm fairy tale "Iron John," in which the narrator, or "Wild Man," guides a young man through eight stages of male growth, to remind us of archetypes long forgotten-images of vigorous masculinity, both protective and emotionally centered.Simultaneously poetic and down-to-earth, combining the grandeur of myth with the practical and often painful lessons of our own histories, Iron John is a rare work that will continue to guide and inspire men-and women-for years to come.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

long-awaited work of renowned poet and storyteller Robert Bly that explores and challenges the male psyche. In it, Bly brings to light a burgeoning "underground" of men seeking to find a lost heritage of emotional connection -- to their fathers, their children, their wives, themselves. Using the Grimm fairy tale as a vehicle, Bly takes us back to a model of masculinity which is neither Rambo nor "wimp," but rather more like Odysseus. He examines the myths and cultural underpinnings of this classic male model -- a combination of fierceness and tenderness long since sacrificed to the demands of the industrial revolution. Such a sacrifice, says Bly, has given rise to a male sense of loss and unacknowledged pain.

Iron John works to heal this pain and to define a new era in the relations between the sexes -- it is the definitive book about men -- for men and for women.

About the Author:

Robert Bly is the author of many books of poetry. He is also a renowned translator, editor, and a founder of the Men's Movement. He lives in Minneapolis and in Moose Lake, Minnesota.

About this edition

• Publisher: Da Capo Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0306813769
• ISBN 13: 9780306813764
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 288