Great Books for Good Men: Reflections on Literature and Manhood

by Joseph Pearce

Originally commissioned by Exodus 90, the pioneering men’s app, these brief but stirring reflections by acclaimed writer Joseph Pearce show how great literature—including poetry—can help every Catholic man striving for virtue and holiness.Drawing on luminaries such as Homer, Dante, St. John Henry Newman, Chesterton, Tolkien, and C. S. Lewis, Pearce shows that literature, far from being a dead relic of the past, tackles crucial questions which are directly relevant to modern men. What does Shakespeare say about the dangers of lust? How does God pursue the sinner like a “Hound of Heaven”? What does it mean to be soldiers of Christ on active duty in the Church Militant? What sort of men do we want our sons to become? What does a great poet-saint teach us about the power of the sign of the cross to exorcise demons? How can we nurture a faith which is fearless?In a culture that fosters toxic masculinity on the one hand and effeminacy on the other, the literary giants of the past offer an inspiring alternative vision of true manhood, one that Catholic men are called to embrace as they “work out [their] salvation with fear and trembling” (Phil 2:12).

Genres: Faith

160 pages, Paperback

Published July 18, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author with this name on GR

Joseph Pearce (born 1961) is an English-born writer, and as of 2004 Writer in Residence and Professor of Literature at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, Florida; previously he had a comparable position, from 2001, at Ave Maria College in Ypsilanti, Michigan. He is known for a number of literary biographies, many of Catholic figures. Formerly aligned with the National Front, a white nationalist political party, he converted to Roman Catholicism in 1989, repudiated his earlier views, and now writes from a Catholic perspective. He is a co-editor of the St. Austin Review and editor-in-chief of Sapientia Press.

Reviews

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

Divided into four sections: poetry, great books, Chesterton & Tolkien, each with 12 short essays this is a very easy to read introduction for great books/authors for not only men. This is written with men in mind as the short essays were originally written for Exodus 60, a Catholic men’s online community.

As a fan of Chesterton & Tolkien i especially enjoyed the last two sections.

[Brandon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good list of novels that are classics, and a few thoughts collected from 2 prominent christian writers. Other than that, the book is structured in a random way and doesn’t really add a lot, skims over the concepts with just 1-3pages on each thought.