Posted on 05/19/2007 7:17:01 AM PDT by fgoodwin
First, there was the question of the title: "The Dangerous Book for Boys." HarperCollins Publishers' Chief Executive Jane Friedman just didn't understand what it meant. Sure, the book had been a hit in England and Australia, but that didn't mean it would work in the U.S.
But the sales staff urged her to stick with it, and in just two weeks, "Dangerous" has become the breakout hit of the season. The News Corp. unit initially ordered up 91,000 copies. There are now 405,000 copies in print. One senior HarperCollins executive, extrapolating from overseas sales and population data, projects that "Dangerous," which lists for $24.95, could sell as many as four million in the U.S.
The unapologetic message is that boys need a certain amount of danger and risk in their lives, and that there are certain lessons that need to be passed down from father to son, man to man. The implication is that in contemporary society basic rules of maleness aren't being handed off as they used to be.
The gender-exclusive nature of "Dangerous" bothers some women. In a posting on the livejournal.com Web site, one woman, addressing the book and boys in general, wrote: "Here's a tip, kiddies: maybe the girls want to have the same kind of fun you do, instead of sitting around the house and learning how to be a servant." (Matthew Benjamin, a senior editor at the Collins imprint, which published the book, says, "There hasn't been any organized protest.")
HarperCollins says it doesn't have any immediate plans to publish a girl's version. HarperCollins's Ms. Friedman, who has two sons and two stepsons, explains: "Boys are very different."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Oh I forgot -- that would actually take some creative effort on their part . . .
I agree with the author, kids must be allowed to take risks while growing up, so they can judge better, whether risks are worth taking or not, later on in life.
liberal version:
“The Metrosexual Book for Boys”
Duh.
L
read later
If you think they’d be interested, would you mind pinging your Scout list re: this article?
Thanx
OK, I give up, what does your tagline mean?
I’ll have to get the bookstore and check it out before hitting the Scout Ping list on it. Sorry just being cautious.
Just one example: I remember crossing this railroad bridge on a regular basis. So long as a train wasn't coming, you were okay but there was no room whatsoever to stand aside when a train came over it. Well one morning I wasn't too careful and got caught in the middle of the bridge as an ear-splitting train whistle went off behind me. I literally had to hang off the railing of the bridge, dangling about 80 feet over the river, as the train whizzed by just a few inches from me.
I learned to always be careful of train tracks from that point on. But would a boy be able to cross that bridge today without the police being called (by the train engineer) and having the kid and parents dragged into court?
As a kid, we went swimming unsupervised where if we got into trouble, we were on our own. We went deep into the woods, explored caves, abandoned houses and other fun stuff. We made a tree house high up in the trees and once, one of the boys slipped coming down and broke his leg. But there were no lawsuits, no recriminating parents, no paperwork to fill out. The rest of us were back up in the treehouse that afternoon lamenting our friends sorry fate (and then laughing about it).
We used to have fist-fights in the schoolyard. A good way to settle childhood disputes or settle the score with some bully. But that would never happen today in our "zero-tolerance" environment for violence. One of my own kids was tormented by bullies one year and I told him to fight back and I gave the principal at the school a heads up. But the principal calls me and tells me that fighting back is not the solution and that if my boy was to fight the bullies on school property, he would have to file a report with the police about our conversation and consider my son the aggressor!
Another situation a few years ago. I dropped my son off at Little League practice, did a few errands and came back. I got a tongue-lashing from one of the other parents for leaving my child at practice alone. My kid was 12 years old at the time! Apparently I was supposed to bring a lawn chair and watch every single minute of every single practice just like the other over-protective moms and dads.
What a pussy-whipped society we live in today.
Yes, those women are known as Lesbians.
ping to post
Caught the author on The Colbert Report. Looked through the book at the bookstore a few days later, and it actually looks like a really good book.
We are going to get it, as we have 3 boys, and a grandpa who will have them a lot during the summer. He will already know this stuff, but it will be good for them to be able to read through it and ask him to help them (such as with the knots)
it’s about a valentine’s day card patton made for me
just before our 19th anniversary. he tucked in that
picture of the 5,000 yr old corpses in an embrace.
it’s very special to me. :)
...then he stole my tagline... ;)
No I didn’t - I “reaffirmed our relationship” by sharing your tagline, just like you share my Mustang. ;)
yeah, we share my car...
i let you drive it once in a while ;)
You’re gonna need showers after about 4999 years.
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