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Manhood: How To Be A Better Man-or Just Live With One (2014)

by Terry Crews(Favorite Author)

3.65 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

0804178062 (ISBN13: 9780804178068)

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Zinc Ink

review 1: I originally picked this up because I read an interview Crews did promoting the book. In the interview, this book came across as an intelligent discussion of gender politics, from the male POV. I expected a memoir chronicling how the expectations of hyper-masculinity affected this man and how he's come to terms with those expectations and settled into his own skin. He's a professional athlete, a large Black man (on whom the expectations of masculinity are even more complex), an action star. He has all the reason in the world to question gender roles, particularly the most extreme ones. Instead, this book is just a regular celebrity memoir. Nothing awful, nothing amazing, just a beautiful person enjoying their moment in the spotlight and sharing their story. Halfway through... more the book I thought "This sounds like he just took a handful of undergrad psych courses..." Then, at the three-quarters mark, he discussed his recent foray into rehab and personal therapy. So. Yeah. It is what it is. As far as celebrity memoirs go (I don't read a whole lot of these, tbh), it was enjoyable. He seems like a good man who has stayed with the wife who supported his trip to stardom, and that's something I can respect. PARENTAL ADVISORIES:Language 3/5: Very, very rare profanities, but I'm pretty sure there's at least one f-bomb. Sex 2/5: Crews struggled with a pornography addiction and discusses it candidly without being graphic. Violence 1/5: One fist-fight. Oblique references to domestic violence. Substance Abuses 1/5: Brief mention of drugs and alcohol among celebrity and professional athlete circles.
review 2: Terry Crews has some fairly important things to say in this book. Two of my favorites are "All a kid needs is one good word from someone he believes" and when writing about marital problems, "The kids already knew something was wrong, and if I hadn't told them, they would have thought it was them." He shares meaningful revelations about life, parenthood, marriage, selfishness, and masculinity. What's most impressive is that he also gives honest narratives of the mistakes he made along the way-- in some cases, many, many times-- that taught him these lessons. He also writes openly about his rough upbringing and abusive parents.I want to give 5 stars to this beloved Brooklyn Nine-Nine actor, but I am rating a book, not the actor. Technically speaking, this book is kind of a mess. The pacing is off; too much time is spent on overly detailed information on some subjects, but then more interesting topics are glossed over quickly. Also, I think Terry Crews actually wrote or dictated this book. This is both a blessing and a curse. It has a distinct and casual voice, which is nice in that you can really tell that he's telling his story, but the colloquialism also leaves things poorly described and results in some stilted dialogue. He is also prone to grand hyperbole and bold overstatements which are a little hard to swallow (Always, never, just one thing...). Then a secondary writer seems to have needed to interject a couple times to explain complex ideas, which altered the vocabulary in a noticeable way.In any case, while the book was a little tough to read due to its structural flaws, I liked the story. I'm impressed by how he changed his life around so completely after being beaten down so many times, and that he was willing to publicly own up to it and try to help others with this book. less

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