American Men

Men wield outsized power across all major institutions. But they are falling behind across all measures of well-being and success. They include loving husbands and absent fathers, corporate strivers and displaced workers, the objects and instruments of incredible violence. They are half the population. And yet when mentioned as a bloc, it’s often to ask the question: What’s wrong with them?

American Men is a book that burrows deep into the lives of four men, exploring how each of them construct their relationship to masculinity, and how they navigate that relationship over time. They include Ryan, an amateur MMA fighter from the Akwesasne Mohawk territory, struggling to come to terms with both his sexuality as a closeted gay man and his draw toward bar room violence; Gideon, an itinerant, tall and handsome West Point graduate and former baseball star who unravels when he encounters challenges to his status as the white masculine ideal; Joseph, a Seattle law student whose marriage teeters on the brink of turmoil as he tries on his own to contend with the effects of childhood sexual trauma; and Nate, a young Ohio man still living at home and trying to establish security for himself in a rural pocket of a red state, where he’s under threat as someone who is Black, trans, and poor. Written with searing intimacy after five years of reporting, American Men interweaves their stories into a mosaic that explores identity, heritage, and the pressures and performance of modern American masculinity.

• "Jordan Ritter Conn’s American Men is a masterclass in empathetic storytelling. With profound sensitivity and unwavering curiosity, he brings us into the lives of men grappling with the silent pressures of masculinity. This is journalism that listens deeply and writes with a rare generosity of spirit."
  Gilbert King, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Devil in the Grove
• "A deeply immersive, intimate look into the lives of four men from vastly different backgrounds and experiences. Beautifully woven together, their stories reveal the current, confused state of American masculinity." 
  Wright Thompson, New York Times bestselling author of The Barn
• "Wise, insightful, and harrowing, American Men will leave readers both shattered and inspired—and grateful for Jordan Ritter Conn’s humanity. This book dares to suggest that even as his subjects struggle—and sometimes fail—there is also occasion for hope. At turns heart wrenching and uplifting, American Men showcases Conn's remarkable gifts as a storyteller, and as a man."
  Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of Cleavage: Men, Women, and the Space Between Us, and (with Jodi Picoult) Mad Honey
• "Reminiscent of Lisa Taddeo's Three Women, Jordan Ritter Conn spins the lives of four men into an extraordinary piece of narrative journalism. Humorous and heartbreaking, these incredibly personal accounts make American Men a necessary addition to the national conversation surrounding masculinity. Whether I found myself cheering for these men or frustrated by their choices (or both), I could not put the book down."
  Aaron John Curtis, 2019 non-fiction Kirkus Prize judge, 2022 non-fiction National Book Award judge, and bestselling author of Old School Indian
• "Unflinching in its honesty, American Men refuses to oversimplify masculinity in America. Jordan Ritter Conn renders thoughtful, intimate portraits of his subjects — men navigating violence, trauma, sexuality, and belonging, charting paths through the contemporary social landscape. Through these men’s stories, this book reveals how gender expectations can create both suffering and meaning across lines of race, class, and sexuality. This book is a rigorous, empathetic, urgent examination of who American men are and who they might become."
   
  Sonora Jha, author of Intemperance, The Laughter, and How to Raise a Feminist Son
• “In American Men, Jordan Ritter Conn delivers a clear-eyed examination of masculinity amid our current moral and political crisis with careful reporting and exacting prose. I hope this book is held up as a critical example of what it means to be an American Man for many years to come—the stories of these four men, and Conn himself, will stay with me for the rest of my days."
  Becca Andrews, author of No Choice: The Destruction of Roe v. Wade and the Fight to Preserve a Fundamental American Right
• “American Men reminds us that narrative is capable of true risk, the kind of book that takes being alive as an argument for something other than punishing the self or the other. Jordan Ritter Conn asks what happens after you tell the truth, recognize all of the work left undone, and refuse to sell an easy answer."
  Joseph Earl Thomas, author of Sink and God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer
• “This book is an astounding achievement. American Men, unflinching and here right on time, demands conversation."
   
  Eliana Ramage, author of To the Moon and Back
• "A captivating account of masculinity with personal revelations that will resonate universally."
   
  Kirkus Reviews