Wild Stories : The Best of Men's Journal

Rating:
Summary: Got testosterone?
Review: "Wild Stories" is a collection of 32 essays culled from the pages of Men's Journal. The stories are organized into four sections: The Adventures, The Sporting Life, Men's Lives and The Reporting. But there's no monotony in the essays themselves. The editors of this book have done as great a job in pulling together a variety of themes, as they have in presenting the work of outstanding writers. The topics range from the exciting to the funny to the inspiring. In fact, it doesn't feel right to read more than one or two essays a day, and risk not giving the stories enough time to sink in. I'm sure everyone will have his or her personal favorites, but the stories that I enjoyed the most included "Weird Karma," "Sunk" and "Buried at Sea." Granted, not every story will appeal to everyone's taste. But there's enough quality writing in here to please just about anyone. Fair warning, though: the men who star in these essays have done some pretty amazing things. It makes you feel just a little bit inadequate.

Rating:
Summary: Got testosterone?
Review: "Wild Stories" is a collection of 32 essays culled from the pages of Men's Journal. The stories are organized into four sections: The Adventures, The Sporting Life, Men's Lives and The Reporting. But there's no monotony in the essays themselves. The editors of this book have done as great a job in pulling together a variety of themes, as they have in presenting the work of outstanding writers. The topics range from the exciting to the funny to the inspiring. In fact, it doesn't feel right to read more than one or two essays a day, and risk not giving the stories enough time to sink in. I'm sure everyone will have his or her personal favorites, but the stories that I enjoyed the most included "Weird Karma," "Sunk" and "Buried at Sea." Granted, not every story will appeal to everyone's taste. But there's enough quality writing in here to please just about anyone. Fair warning, though: the men who star in these essays have done some pretty amazing things. It makes you feel just a little bit inadequate.

Rating:
Summary: Ten Years of Pretty Good Writing
Review: As with any anthology or collection, the stories are only as good as the individual writers. By definition, collections tend to be up and down experiences as one moves from interesting stories told by skilled tellers to flat ideas leveled even more by mediocre writers.

Happily, this book is mostly hills instead of valleys. Men's Journal, the magazine, has collected feature articles from their first ten year's of existence. As the title suggests, this is largely a book about men, from men's perspectives and oriented toward adventure and action.

The authors vary from P.J. O'Rourke to Sebastain Junger. Most of the tales they tell are marvelous and well written. I would estimate that three-quarters of the articles were either fascinating stories, extremely well written or happily, a combination of both.

This book takes the reader around the world. A sampling: a river journey up the dark reaches of the Amazon by two teen-agers raised to embrace the bohemian experience; minimalist camping and fishing in Patagonia; ascension of the famed Mt. Eiger; an otherworldly road trip across India's central thorofare; hiking and death in the Punjab, the late 1990's trek to the top of Mt. Everest that took a dozen lives; living on the run with several of the world's guerilla leaders.

While most of these stories involve maximum testosterone and roughing it in the outdoors, some surprising gems describe men's domestic tranquility. I particularly enjoyed one story of a man's family retreat on the northern shores of Lake Superior and how that get-a-way came to define his family's experiences and his better memories.

There are a few clunkers out of 40 or so stories, but overall this book is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Ten Years of Pretty Good Writing
Review: As with any anthology or collection, the stories are only as good as the individual writers. By definition, collections tend to be up and down experiences as one moves from interesting stories told by skilled tellers to flat ideas leveled even more by mediocre writers.

Happily, this book is mostly hills instead of valleys. Men's Journal, the magazine, has collected feature articles from their first ten year's of existence. As the title suggests, this is largely a book about men, from men's perspectives and oriented toward adventure and action.

The authors vary from P.J. O'Rourke to Sebastain Junger. Most of the tales they tell are marvelous and well written. I would estimate that three-quarters of the articles were either fascinating stories, extremely well written or happily, a combination of both.

This book takes the reader around the world. A sampling: a river journey up the dark reaches of the Amazon by two teen-agers raised to embrace the bohemian experience; minimalist camping and fishing in Patagonia; ascension of the famed Mt. Eiger; an otherworldly road trip across India's central thorofare; hiking and death in the Punjab, the late 1990's trek to the top of Mt. Everest that took a dozen lives; living on the run with several of the world's guerilla leaders.

While most of these stories involve maximum testosterone and roughing it in the outdoors, some surprising gems describe men's domestic tranquility. I particularly enjoyed one story of a man's family retreat on the northern shores of Lake Superior and how that get-a-way came to define his family's experiences and his better memories.

There are a few clunkers out of 40 or so stories, but overall this book is a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent collection!
Review: My brother gave this to me as a Christmas gift -- something I could pick up during holiday travel and read in short bursts. It's April and I'm still reading a story here and a story there. Almost without exception, the writing in this anthology is first rate. And the breadth of tone and topic is amazing. You'll read about climbing in South America; asbestos, suffering, and greed in Montana; survival and injustice in the WWII Pacific; eating your way across Louisiana; the virtues of owning a cabin; a porn conference in Las Vegas; and golf's almost-good enough. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent collection!
Review: My brother gave this to me as a Christmas gift -- something I could pick up during holiday travel and read in short bursts. It's April and I'm still reading a story here and a story there. Almost without exception, the writing in this anthology is first rate. And the breadth of tone and topic is amazing. You'll read about climbing in South America; asbestos, suffering, and greed in Montana; survival and injustice in the WWII Pacific; eating your way across Louisiana; the virtues of owning a cabin; a porn conference in Las Vegas; and golf's almost-good enough. Highly recommended!