By Lisa Bloom
Vantage Point, $24.95, 270 page

Swagger looks at how boys need protection from a society that, in general, seems to be stacked against them. Not only do they have to deal with political correctness and women taking over the workplace, but also the statistical problems of just “being a boy” such as lower literacy and higher crime rates. The author, Lisa Bloom, then provides ten rules to help boys become better adults.

Although Swagger is generally well written, there are some problems that keep popping up. Some inaccurate statistics are reported, such as video games increasing violence even as the current statistics are going down. Bloom also needed to edit her tone, which comes across as a long rant against how boys are treated; it’s nice to see someone going to bat for boys, but she comes off as an educated street preacher at times. Another problem with this book is its apparent anti-media bias. Nonetheless, the logic is sound in that we need to discourage boys from thinking about themselves as the end-all be-all, and bring them back down to earth. All in all, not a bad book and one parents should read at some point.


Reviewed by Jamais Jochim,

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