A journalist/lesbian becomes a man for a year to see what it's like to be a man, and what men are like when women aren't around (pretty scary sometimes). The chapters where men and women are most different were the most interesting, e.g. when she went to strip clubs (pretty horrifying and misogynistic) and dated women. At the end it got to her, and she became psychologically screwed up as a result (I actually read this book because I saw her latest book, about being in a mental hospital, in the library and decided I'd read about what screwed her up first). All in all, except for the few chapters that fell a bit flat, like the monastery and sales job chapters, this was a fascinating frightening tour through the male psyche. No wonder she cracked. ( )

Chose this for my bookgroup a while back. I was intrigued but worried how the group would react to it. It was interesting and everyone thought the same but the overall concensus was that the vulgarity of it detracted from a great story. It was an interesting exercise in the human condition but Norah Vincent took it down to a level it did not need to go. I thought it was a brave endeavour and was so interested in reading this book but I lost track of it because of all the foul language that just was not necessary. ( )

Norah Vincent lived for 1 1/2 years the life of a man. In a drag costume she joined an all male bowling club, went to work in a high pressure sales job, dated women and even participated in a men's self-help group.

In "Self-Made Man" she shares what she discovered about the other sex while working under cover. This book was an entertaining and quick read although the insights gained weren't as deep as one could have hoped for.

However, Vincent manges to disprove her own thesis that men have easier and better lives all around. In the end the female reader will at least gain some understanding and sympathy for the male life experience. ( )

A fascinating story, if one approaches it as more of a travelogue. I don't agree with her broad generalizations of "women" or "feminine" versus "men" and "masculine," but her comparison between her as female and her as male, both in her perceptions and how she was perceived, made for a very interesting read. In the end, I feel I learned more about the author's view of herself and how she vies the different genders than I did about "manhood" or its many permutations. ( )

I first heard about Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised as a Man by Norah Vincent via the xckd blag, and finding the concept intriguing I had to pick up a copy when I saw it available at CyberRead.

Norah Vincent decides to live as a man for more than a year. As Ned, she partakes in various male experiences like bonding with a bowling team, visiting strip clubs, going on dates, joining a men’s group, taking a sales job in a Glengarry Glen Ross-esque environment, and even joins a monastery for several weeks.

The book is a well-written and extremely engrossing account of her search for what it means to be a man. Though I don’t think Vincent could in any way truly become a man, I do think certain gender differences became more acutely visible to her, precisely because she isn’t male. A man couldn’t write Self-Made Man any more than a woman could write a book called Self-Made Woman.

Something that struck me about the book is how very brave Vincent was to do some of the things she did. She put herself in a wide variety of situations where she was completely out of her depth and which could have turned ugly fast had she been unlucky. Not only did she have the guts to get into those situations, and the skill to navigate them successfully, she also has the ability of eloquently describing how she felt at the time.

After reading Self-Made Man I realised just how tough life can be when you’re male, and was left with a profound sense of empathy towards men. If you are at all interested in how men and women think and interact with each other I suggest reading Self-Made Man, hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I did. I just wish Norah Vincent had more/better pictures of Ned available on her website. After reading so much about him I would have appreciated seeing him properly. ( )