{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Keen On America","title":"Getting Queerer Quicker: No, The Literary Man Isn't Disappearing—He's Just Not Longer White or Straight","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2483,"description":"For lonely young men who have forgotten how to read, the LA Times book critic Bethanne Patrick some some simple advice: Get Queer Quicker. And to make her point, Patrick discusses five great books on today’s male identity crisis - including from Keen On alums like Jessa Crispin and Andrew Lipstein. Patrick argues that reports of the literary man's death are greatly exaggerated - he's just evolved beyond the Philip Roth archetype. From Michael Douglas movies to Danish masculinity models, from toxic fathers to cross-dressing ceramicists, these books reveal how modern men are navigating identity in an era where traditional patriarchal roles have crumbled, replaced by what Crispin calls a system where \"you just need to buy your way to the top.\" So today’s anxiety-ridden men who want to get beyond the self-stimulation of Portnoy’s Complaint, go to your local (indie) bookstore and GQQ. You’ll find that the pages of today’s books on the dilemma of maleness are a lot less sticky. 1. The Literary Man Hasn't Disappeared—He's DiversifiedReports of the \"death\" of literary men are exaggerated. Today's prestigious male writers are just \"less likely to also be straight and white\"—think Ocean Vuong, Kwame Alexander, and Alexander Chee rather than Philip Roth and Norman Mailer.2. Gen Z is \"Getting Queerer Quicker\"Younger generations are rejecting rigid gender binaries in literature and life, refusing categories like \"romances are for women, thrillers are for men.\" They're making intentional choices about identity rather than accepting traditional roles.3. The Crisis is About Class, Not Just GenderBoth Jessica Crispin and Jared Yates Sexton argue that male identity crisis stems from economic inequality. The old patriarchy based on \"role and responsibilities\" was replaced by a system where \"you just need to buy your way to the top\"—leaving working-class men adrift.4. Men Need Permission to Read DiverselyPatrick's husband didn't read fiction until audiobooks gave him privacy from...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/bCpvkYgrorWYCv4ujOodZ7o-xqCKvQH-YHlEI5E7zpw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS83NDM2/MGJjOTYyNjBkYzJi/ZDVhMTUwZDgwMWE3/ZDk3OS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}