Description

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.

Iron John was a #1 New York Times bestseller

Quotes

"A brilliantly eclectic written meditation ... an invaluable contribution."
— Deborah Tannen, Washington Post

"Important ... timely ... powerful"
— New York Times

"Combining erudition with enthusiasm ... Bly conducts a fascinating examination of myth, literature, psychology, and anthropology. ... As thought-provoking an exploration of men and masculinity as any in recent years."
— Newsday

Extended Copyright Information

Copyright 1994, 2004 by Robert Bly

Originally published in hardcover by Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc., in 1990.

Reprinted by arrangement with the author by Da Capo Press in 2004,
A Member of the Perseus Books Group

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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Opening Lines (Experimental)

We talk a great deal about "the American man," as if there were some constant quality that remained stable over decades, or even within a single decade.
The men who live today have veered far away from the Saturnian, old-man-minded farmer, proud of his introversion, who arrived in New England in ...

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Copyright

Copyright 1994, 2004 by Robert Bly

All Rights Reserved.

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