A Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son

Dear Elijah,
You’re entering adulthood at an incredible time for men. You have the opportunity to be part of a conversation
about the new shape of manhood. If you want it to, your generation of men can become pioneers, reinventing
masculinity the same way women continue to adapt femininity …
What does it mean to be a man?
In a world in which the word masculinity now often goes hand in hand with toxic, comedian, actor, and father
Michael Ian Black offers up a way forward for boys, men, and anyone who loves them. Part memoir, part advice book,
and written as a heartfelt letter to his college-bound son, A Better Man reveals Black’s own complicated relationship
with his father, explores the damage and rising violence caused by the expectations placed on boys to “man up,” and
searches for the best way to help young men be part of the solution, not the problem. “If we cannot allow ourselves
vulnerability,” he writes, “how are we supposed to experience wonder, fear, tenderness?”
Honest, funny, and hopeful, Black skillfully navigates the complex gender issues of our time and delivers a poignant
answer to an urgent question: How can we be, and raise, better men?