Man Down

Rudd, Matt

£9.99

From the outside, the men of today should be happy. They have it comparatively easy. They still get paid more for doing the same jobs. They are still 40% more likely than women to be promoted to management roles. At home, men do washing-up and petrol, wine and bins. Women still do everything else. But below the surface, there’s a different story unfolding. Men in the UK are three times more likely to take their own life than women. Men aged 45-49 have the highest rate of suicide, nearly four times that of women the same age. Their reported levels of stress are higher and their levels of happiness are lower. The evidence is clear and ironic: the system set up by men, which doesn’t work for women, isn’t working for men either. It’s making none of us happy. Matt Rudd delves into the reasons behind this unhappiness, and what we might be able to do about it.

Out of stock

Publish Date: 04/03/2022

Description

‘The most honest, most revealing – and funniest – exploration of male mental health I have ever read’ Adam Kay

‘Matt Rudd may have written the most important book in a generation’ Idle Society

On the surface, men today don’t have much to complain about. At work, they still get paid more than women for doing the same jobs. At home, they still shirk most of the unpaid labour. Putting the bins out does not count.

Beneath the surface, it’s a different story. An alarming number of men end up anxious, exhausted, depressed – and very reluctant to admit they are. Even if they do everything that’s expected of them in work, life and fatherhood, genuine happiness is still elusive. By midlife, their levels of stress are higher and their levels of wellbeing are lower – and work-life balance turns out to be just a cruel illusion.

The evidence is clear and ironic: the system set up by men for men doesn’t work for men either. It is making none of us happy.

In Man Down, Matt Rudd takes the long view on this perplexing paradox. Drawing on stories from his own life, and the varied lives of the other men he has interviewed, he goes back to the beginning to consider what makes the modern man – how the seeds of midlife misery are sown in the school playground and cultivated through adolescence and into adulthood. By turns compassionate and provocative, Man Down asks the important question: is midlife unhappiness inevitable? Spoiler alert: it isn’t.

Additional information

Weight 199 g
Dimensions 196 × 126 × 26 mm
Author

Publisher

Imprint

Cover

Paperback

Pages

214

Language

English

Edition
Dewey

616.85270081 (edition:23)

Readership

General – Trade / Code: K