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Lost Boys: A Personal Journey Through the Manosphere
Rarely has there been a more confusing time to be a man. This uncertainty has spawned an array of bizarre and harmful underground subcultures, collectively known as the manosphere, as men search for new forms of belonging.
In Lost Boys, James Bloodworth delves into these underground worlds and asks where have they come from? Why are so many men susceptible to the sinister beliefs these groups promote? What does the emergence of these communities say about Western society? And what can we do about it? In the course of his journey he meets incels, enlists on a bootcamp for so-called 'alpha males', and speaks to modern day Hugh Hefners using social media to broadcast their jet set lifestyles to millions of followers.
Combining compulsive memoir with powerful reporting, fascinating international case studies, data, cultural analysis and history, Lost Boys is an essential guide to the crisis in contemporary masculinity.
In Lost Boys, James Bloodworth delves into these underground worlds and asks where have they come from? Why are so many men susceptible to the sinister beliefs these groups promote? What does the emergence of these communities say about Western society? And what can we do about it? In the course of his journey he meets incels, enlists on a bootcamp for so-called 'alpha males', and speaks to modern day Hugh Hefners using social media to broadcast their jet set lifestyles to millions of followers.
Combining compulsive memoir with powerful reporting, fascinating international case studies, data, cultural analysis and history, Lost Boys is an essential guide to the crisis in contemporary masculinity.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2025
About the author
James Bloodworth
6 books86 followersJames Bloodworth is an English writer and the author of two books, The Myth of Meritocracy and Hired: Six Months Undercover in Low-Wage Britain. His work has appeared in the Guardian, the Times, New York Review of Books, New Statesman and elsewhere. He is on Twitter as @J_Bloodworth.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews
September 3, 2026
The subtitle suggests that Bloodworth had some meaningful personal journey in the Manosphere. This is incredibly misleading. Bloodworth has a fairly tenuous connection with the community and could not really ever to be said to be counted among their number. In 2005-6, as a newly minted adult (he was ~21-22 at the time), Bloodworth briefly participated in some pickup artist (PUA) boot camp, which basically consisted of trolling clubs for women with other men, where the PUA mentor function as wingmen. This is standard behavior for most men in this age bracket. The only distinction is the level of intentionality or strategy involved. Of course, it should be evident that such an explicit approach would only be worthwhile if disguised. Given the trajectory and timeline of Bloodworth career as a journalist, he was likely already involved in the field (as a student) at the time of this experience. It is hard not to see his participation as a gonzo-type stunt rather than authentic interest in being a PUA, which suggests significant disingenuousness.
By the time this becomes evident in the book, Bloodworth is already blabbing platitudes, bemoaning the evils of Manosphere personalities, such as Rollo Tomassi, the Tate brothers, Dan Bilzerian, and Jordan Peterson (wut?), or deriding the hopeless losers ("surplus men" in the parlance) who populate the seedy corner of the internet, namely Redpill/Blackpill forums. There has now been more than a decade of accumulating critiques of the Manosphere and its various iterations and offenses. None of these have stopped its march into the mainstream of public discourse. In fact, these journalistic takedowns may serve as Streisand-like Schelling points for more coordination among dispossessed and aggrieved men.
This books is, in reality, a very derived and eminently substitutable journalistic narrative about the ideological continuity between pickup artist (PUA) culture and the modern manosphere ecosystem and right-wing backlash politics, a claim itself that is never proven beyond pointing at a few enduring personalities who've clearly chased rather than driven trends. Bloodworth interweaves his narrative with a polemical but superficial critique of this ideology informed by a vague, inchoate left-liberalism informed by social constructionist premises. Nowhere in the work is Bloodworth interested in the actual sociology of the manosphere, failing to interrogate whether male grievance is legitimate at all and treating the success of Manosphere content to the failures of socialization and other fluky factors. We're left at the end with no real sense of exactly why male grievance has increased in recent decades (other than gestures at loneliness, status anxiety, economic stagnation, sexual frustration, declining traditional male roles, and social-media comparison), whether male grievance will continue to grow, whether backlash politics will build momentum, or what should actually be done about it.
If you want to read analytical criticism of Manospheric abuse of evolutionary psychology, The Nuance Pill (https://nuancepill.substack.com/) does a much better job, though I have also engaged critically with some of tNP's claims whose efforts to debunk veer too far into skepticism of quite obviously evolved sex differences. There are highly motivated efforts across many academic fields that study human behavior to play down sex differences and their consequences. The confusion about these realities is part of what creates an opening for malign influences like Tate or Bilzerian to commercially exploit male grievance and triangulate against the ideological opposition that will emerge (i.e. the religious right and the feminist left).
By the time this becomes evident in the book, Bloodworth is already blabbing platitudes, bemoaning the evils of Manosphere personalities, such as Rollo Tomassi, the Tate brothers, Dan Bilzerian, and Jordan Peterson (wut?), or deriding the hopeless losers ("surplus men" in the parlance) who populate the seedy corner of the internet, namely Redpill/Blackpill forums. There has now been more than a decade of accumulating critiques of the Manosphere and its various iterations and offenses. None of these have stopped its march into the mainstream of public discourse. In fact, these journalistic takedowns may serve as Streisand-like Schelling points for more coordination among dispossessed and aggrieved men.
This books is, in reality, a very derived and eminently substitutable journalistic narrative about the ideological continuity between pickup artist (PUA) culture and the modern manosphere ecosystem and right-wing backlash politics, a claim itself that is never proven beyond pointing at a few enduring personalities who've clearly chased rather than driven trends. Bloodworth interweaves his narrative with a polemical but superficial critique of this ideology informed by a vague, inchoate left-liberalism informed by social constructionist premises. Nowhere in the work is Bloodworth interested in the actual sociology of the manosphere, failing to interrogate whether male grievance is legitimate at all and treating the success of Manosphere content to the failures of socialization and other fluky factors. We're left at the end with no real sense of exactly why male grievance has increased in recent decades (other than gestures at loneliness, status anxiety, economic stagnation, sexual frustration, declining traditional male roles, and social-media comparison), whether male grievance will continue to grow, whether backlash politics will build momentum, or what should actually be done about it.
If you want to read analytical criticism of Manospheric abuse of evolutionary psychology, The Nuance Pill (https://nuancepill.substack.com/) does a much better job, though I have also engaged critically with some of tNP's claims whose efforts to debunk veer too far into skepticism of quite obviously evolved sex differences. There are highly motivated efforts across many academic fields that study human behavior to play down sex differences and their consequences. The confusion about these realities is part of what creates an opening for malign influences like Tate or Bilzerian to commercially exploit male grievance and triangulate against the ideological opposition that will emerge (i.e. the religious right and the feminist left).
July 7, 2025
Essential reading on a massive issue. I've already loaned this out to someone, and it'll definitely impact things that I do as a parent and as a teacher.
March 10, 2026
A really interesting, if at times disturbing, read about the rise of misogyny amongst young men and the drivers behind it. This was very easy to get through with it well written and researched, and Bloodworth's first-hand experience of the manosphere gave it a good grounding. I did want a little more but this did a good job of explaining the multiple influences that have led to such a widespread issue.
June 11, 2025
From the very first page of this compelling book, you’re in the thick of it. James Bloodworth describes participating in a course to teach him how to pick up girls in London’s Leicester Square. That was twenty years ago. And my first thought was, wow, Bloodworth has been doing research for twenty years. But … no, he was actual a somewhat confused very young man at the time and while he regrets what he did, he learned stuff.
And much more stuff later on as he attended various events and interviewed people in the “manosphere” — the largely online universe in which men rant about how evil / stupid / powerful women are. Some of those men go on to commit hate crimes against women, including murder. Much of this is a horror story — but a real-life horror story.
Others have written about all this before, though not with this depth. And Bloodworth adds a unique element to the story — he reveals the close links between the manosphere and the far Right, including Donald Trump. He takes us deep into the rabbit hole where dangerous woman-hating extremists discover who “really” runs the world — and, no spoilers here, they mean the Jews.
This is the kind of journalism I have loved since I first read the 1940’s best-seller from the U.S., “Under Cover”, in which an anti-fascist journalist joins the various pro-Nazi and pro-appeasement groups that were quite strong at the time. It takes real journalistic talent — and courage — to pull this off.
Lost Boys is essential reading.
And much more stuff later on as he attended various events and interviewed people in the “manosphere” — the largely online universe in which men rant about how evil / stupid / powerful women are. Some of those men go on to commit hate crimes against women, including murder. Much of this is a horror story — but a real-life horror story.
Others have written about all this before, though not with this depth. And Bloodworth adds a unique element to the story — he reveals the close links between the manosphere and the far Right, including Donald Trump. He takes us deep into the rabbit hole where dangerous woman-hating extremists discover who “really” runs the world — and, no spoilers here, they mean the Jews.
This is the kind of journalism I have loved since I first read the 1940’s best-seller from the U.S., “Under Cover”, in which an anti-fascist journalist joins the various pro-Nazi and pro-appeasement groups that were quite strong at the time. It takes real journalistic talent — and courage — to pull this off.
Lost Boys is essential reading.
June 25, 2025
a must read…
… for anyone fooled by the nonsense spouted by the likes of Trump and Andrew Tate. Couldn’t put it down!
… for anyone fooled by the nonsense spouted by the likes of Trump and Andrew Tate. Couldn’t put it down!
March 5, 2026
An eye opening, sombre read. Unsettling but a good reminder that these voices exist outside of my bubble.
The male ego, alpha dogs, high status men, the pick-up game, coercion, fear, violence, radicalisation, the rejection of women's rights, the compulsion to dominate, power, the all consuming desperation to possess woman then disparaging and hating them in the same breath. A very interesting look into the manosphere.
The male ego, alpha dogs, high status men, the pick-up game, coercion, fear, violence, radicalisation, the rejection of women's rights, the compulsion to dominate, power, the all consuming desperation to possess woman then disparaging and hating them in the same breath. A very interesting look into the manosphere.
October 18, 2025
It’s important to have men, particularly men who have been attracted to manosphere content, writing honestly about what drew them in and how they clawed themselves out again. I wish the analysis extended beyond the Epilogue, though. Many of us know the story of the pickup artists’ heyday, eventually ending up in Jordan Peterson and Andrew Tate territory - for those who don’t, it’s a very useful primer - but it could do with fleshing out and digging deeper. It’s fascinating that common insecurities around dating can be propelled into a place where companionship and sex are no longer the end goal, but rather means to sex-as-power-to-impress-other-men. It’s evidence that we all need feminism more than ever, but as the author invokes, men’s problems and their shifting position in society need to be addressed, not with derision, but head on and with candour. Because we have a tendency to ignore and trivialise modern misogyny, we’ve left a misogynistic, hateful bottomless pit.
July 19, 2025
3.5. Interesting material and a good overview of the Manosphere. However, if I have to look up 5 different words while reading, it means you suffer from Guardianitis. Speak in plain English.
September 14, 2025
If horror is your thing, this is the book for you...
September 24, 2026
“The world is shallow, the world is disingenuous.”
This opens up with the author briefly finding himself under the spell of a PUA (pick-up artist) as made famous/notorious by “The Game” – which in retrospect - almost has a naïve charm about it in comparison to the current toxic online swamp populated millions of incels, misogynists, red-pillers, stalkers and US presidents making up the so-called manosphere all turbo charged by social media...
“The world is not a meritocracy guys, you understand that? The world is full of fluffy, shiny objects.”
His descriptions of going out on the pull in clubs trying to get women are cover your eyes and cry out cringe, as he pinballs between one doomed and excruciating encounter after another under the pseudo tutelage of faux masculine caricatures. This is a landscape where ideas like science and truth are mere speed bumps or obstacles on the way to gaining more clicks, likes and creating further revenue streams. A world where blurred lines, muddied waters and other vague euphemisms and ambiguities hide a multitude of sins ranging from casual sexism and minor harassment to gang rape and multiple murders.
“On a six-and-a-half-inch screen, the illusion of success is indistinguishable from the real thing.”
Bloodsworth uncovers and encounters a depressing conveyor belt of shallow, empty narcissists bolstered by the adulation of countless sycophants, wannabes and other lost souls searching for that ever elusive, one defining version of masculinity that will make it all fall into place, as it does on those carefully curated online fictions. This is another important and engaging addition to the journalism shedding some more light and insight into this incredibly toxic culture, which has so many real-life repercussions which go far beyond laptops or smartphones.
February 9, 2026
I want to make all of my friends (and their partners and families) read this book. I can’t remember the last time I read an author who was so deeply and personally immersed in their investigation. So readable and a fascinating insight into the masculinity crisis.
It’s also a 10/10 conversation starter with the men in your life.
It’s also a 10/10 conversation starter with the men in your life.
September 9, 2025
Excellent book on the Male Issue. Especially interested that it comes from an authour who dabbled personally in the arena in what sounds like a previous life.
Read in bed
Read in bed
September 17, 2025
This book takes a deep dive into the 'manosphere', from its beginning with pick-up artist culture in the early 2000s, through to the widespread political influence we're seeing today. The author uses his insights from interactions with relevant people and groups, which makes it feel more authentic, and personal. It is somewhat distressing to read - with all the current evidence in the world of the awful effects of these mindsets I felt a little like I'd prefer not to know, but it also seems crucial to understand the how and the why, with whatever hope we have to change direction.
June 28, 2025
Having briefly stepped into the world of pick-up artists as a younger man, James Bloodworth's investigation examines how this movement mutated into the blend of disaffection, bigotry, and con-artistry that form the modern manosphere. Bloodworth excels at demonstrating how this movement's improbable range of inspirations and leaders merged together, and the violence that it has spawned, with his book combining scholarly insights with firsthand research and interviews that bring fresh perspectives into the topic. Like other ventures into the alt-right ecosystem such as Clown World: Four Years Inside Andrew Tate's Manosphere, there's a dark sense of humour to his narration that points out the tragicomic bizarreness of this world while still confronting the hate crimes, abuse, and corrosive social effects that this ideology has produced. While I would've been curious to see Bloodworth explore approaches to tackling misogyny and online hate (for instance, do experts believe that present or proposed measures offered by governments will work? What can be done about its root causes, like the distorted nature of social media or male loneliness? How have men who escaped these ideologies done so?), LOST BOYS is a bold and compelling exploration of this topic.
June 26, 2025
Best way to describe this would be as a decent add-on to Richard Reeves’ Of Boys and Men. Full of descriptions and observations on what attracts men between the ages of 12 and 50, this book lacks analysis and depth to be a compelling read.
August 12, 2025
As essential as every bit as it is depressing. Come on men, we had a good run. It must be time for us to bugger off now, yeah?
July 31, 2026
Overall: a sterile account of the history of the manosphere. 1.5 stars.
Perhaps I had a certain level of expectation with a book called "a personal journey" through the manosphere that the author would be embedded within that community, but this account is far from it. The book reads like an embellished Wikipedia article of the historical events and characters which culminated in the Manosphere, interspersed by perfunctory Skype interviews with academics who lend a couple hundred words of insight each. I think this book was a COVID project, or long form Guardian piece, which was then pumped up into a book when travel restrictions were lifted, and that foundation of webcam interaction pervades the text.
Personal note, I have had two close friends who became deeply embedded in the manosphere. I have first hand experience of seeing a disenfranchised, unemployed mate spiral into misogyny and white supremacist tropes online, with one friend moving to the USA from the UK and buying guns and becoming full MAGA before deciding even Trump was too woke and moving to a cabin in the woods. I guess I was looking for some perspective or unique insight from this book into the rationale behind that kind of indoctrination.
Bloodworth attended a pick up course 20 years ago for a day, and then attended a handful of con artist conferences at $2k a pop to hear sales pitches for self help courses. This feels like an extremely superficial personal journey through the manosphere. He utterly refuses to "drink the koolaid" and live and breathe the community. He retains an extremely detached and cool presence throughout the book, with large sections being devoid of any personal insight and reading like a log of events, places and people. Sections on Gamergate, the Capitol Riots, and Lyndon McLeod especially fall into date, person, place prose. It's crunchingly generic.
I think he sees this community as so unrelentingly toxic, his approach is to keep the entire affair at an arm's length which results in a sterile read. He comes across as condescending and unsympathetic in several sections. He is quick to point out people as short, bald, fat, sweaty, or being (shock) middle-aged. He rarely grapples with the awful ideas these people are spouting, preferring just to state their views and then refuting them by pointing out that the misogynist has been previously divorced or declared bankrupt or charged with assault or bizarrely committed the sin of being in a stable marriage - as if this is sufficient evidence to undermine these bigots' worldview. There is a lot of ad hominem and little more.
He has very few meaningful interactions with anyone in this community, and I suspect that's because the community knew precisely what his intentions were at the beginning. I imagine he stuck out like a sore thumb at these MAGA conventions. His prose reads as pretentious in places and his contempt for his subjects bleeds through the pages. I'm fairly well read and had to look up some pretty esoteric words (discomfited??) - in my mind's eye I see a woke British man, using $5 dollar words while looking down his nose at everything and everyone at these conferences and all the other attendees giving him a very wide berth.
Many of these conmen are indeed worthy of our contempt, but their audience is a group of underemployed, overworked men, whose living standards are in rapid reverse compared to their parents'. They are the first generation to be exposed to unfettered pornography and hate speech online since birth. I kept waiting for a point where he says he befriends another conference attendee to get into their head, but it never happened. The fact he never bothers to really engage with the audience and work out why they give these bastards their attention, time and money is a major oversight.
Bloodworth spends a number of pages in chapter 1 extolling the danger of "going native", akin to Neil Strauss, who wrote the infamous pick up book "The Game" back in the '00s and lived the life to the extent he became a figurehead for the pick up industry. Bloodworth's determination to only dip a toe destroys any credibility and so the book has no stakes.
Perhaps I had a certain level of expectation with a book called "a personal journey" through the manosphere that the author would be embedded within that community, but this account is far from it. The book reads like an embellished Wikipedia article of the historical events and characters which culminated in the Manosphere, interspersed by perfunctory Skype interviews with academics who lend a couple hundred words of insight each. I think this book was a COVID project, or long form Guardian piece, which was then pumped up into a book when travel restrictions were lifted, and that foundation of webcam interaction pervades the text.
Personal note, I have had two close friends who became deeply embedded in the manosphere. I have first hand experience of seeing a disenfranchised, unemployed mate spiral into misogyny and white supremacist tropes online, with one friend moving to the USA from the UK and buying guns and becoming full MAGA before deciding even Trump was too woke and moving to a cabin in the woods. I guess I was looking for some perspective or unique insight from this book into the rationale behind that kind of indoctrination.
Bloodworth attended a pick up course 20 years ago for a day, and then attended a handful of con artist conferences at $2k a pop to hear sales pitches for self help courses. This feels like an extremely superficial personal journey through the manosphere. He utterly refuses to "drink the koolaid" and live and breathe the community. He retains an extremely detached and cool presence throughout the book, with large sections being devoid of any personal insight and reading like a log of events, places and people. Sections on Gamergate, the Capitol Riots, and Lyndon McLeod especially fall into date, person, place prose. It's crunchingly generic.
I think he sees this community as so unrelentingly toxic, his approach is to keep the entire affair at an arm's length which results in a sterile read. He comes across as condescending and unsympathetic in several sections. He is quick to point out people as short, bald, fat, sweaty, or being (shock) middle-aged. He rarely grapples with the awful ideas these people are spouting, preferring just to state their views and then refuting them by pointing out that the misogynist has been previously divorced or declared bankrupt or charged with assault or bizarrely committed the sin of being in a stable marriage - as if this is sufficient evidence to undermine these bigots' worldview. There is a lot of ad hominem and little more.
He has very few meaningful interactions with anyone in this community, and I suspect that's because the community knew precisely what his intentions were at the beginning. I imagine he stuck out like a sore thumb at these MAGA conventions. His prose reads as pretentious in places and his contempt for his subjects bleeds through the pages. I'm fairly well read and had to look up some pretty esoteric words (discomfited??) - in my mind's eye I see a woke British man, using $5 dollar words while looking down his nose at everything and everyone at these conferences and all the other attendees giving him a very wide berth.
Many of these conmen are indeed worthy of our contempt, but their audience is a group of underemployed, overworked men, whose living standards are in rapid reverse compared to their parents'. They are the first generation to be exposed to unfettered pornography and hate speech online since birth. I kept waiting for a point where he says he befriends another conference attendee to get into their head, but it never happened. The fact he never bothers to really engage with the audience and work out why they give these bastards their attention, time and money is a major oversight.
Bloodworth spends a number of pages in chapter 1 extolling the danger of "going native", akin to Neil Strauss, who wrote the infamous pick up book "The Game" back in the '00s and lived the life to the extent he became a figurehead for the pick up industry. Bloodworth's determination to only dip a toe destroys any credibility and so the book has no stakes.
April 11, 2026
⭐️⭐️⭐️3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️
An interesting, informative and disturbing read, this book takes us into the darkest corners of the Manosphere. Bloodworth reveals the falsehoods and contradictions in Manosphere ideology, highlighting the misogynistic rhetoric of Andrew Tate, Dan Bizerian and Donald Trump, whilst also showing how vulnerable young men can easily be radicalised by this movement. These boys truly are lost.
An interesting, informative and disturbing read, this book takes us into the darkest corners of the Manosphere. Bloodworth reveals the falsehoods and contradictions in Manosphere ideology, highlighting the misogynistic rhetoric of Andrew Tate, Dan Bizerian and Donald Trump, whilst also showing how vulnerable young men can easily be radicalised by this movement. These boys truly are lost.
June 12, 2026
Bloodworth traces the development of the manosphere from skeevy dating advice through lifestyle branding, get-rich-quick scams, and eventual entanglement with conspiracy theories and far-right politics. He explains its popularity through the perverse incentives of the attention economy. I’d emphasize instead (1) the decline of stable careers, families, and relationships and (2) continuity with a broader neoliberal ethos of self-optimization.
February 13, 2026
This book didn't really give me any new insights or perspectives on the manosphere as experienced by men or any new revelations about the development of misogyny via the internet and social media but I did appreciate the research and the chronological way it was presented. I started to lose interest in all of the men mentioned quite early on as they are clearly just poor carbon copies of each other and could not be duller if they tried.
July 15, 2026
En viktig bok om et stort og komplekst tema. Den har vært helt essensiell i mitt arbeid med masteroppgaven min, som undersøker gutters forståelser og opplevelser av kjønn og likestilling, da sosiale medier og algoritmer får en stadig større rolle i unges meningsdannelse.
July 25, 2026
This book was more of an introduction to the manosphere for those who have not heard of it before. Personally I felt it lacked a deeper analysis of race, class and gender, missing a lot of important places of theorizaiton that is needed in this kind of discourse. The author gave lots of great info about influencers and what these spaces look like from a first hand account, which does provide a lot of insight. Yet, he barely scratched the surface on the deep algorithmic online misogyny that these online spaces thrive on. Sprinkling in some statistics here and there about violence against women, but not going into the larger networks of violence. It was interesting read overall and I did learn a thing or two. 3/5
May 4, 2026
Wow, this is definitely one of the best books I’ve read this year, a brilliant and captivating reportage that had me feeling queasy most of the time! 🤢
In it, journalist James Bloodworth reports on his experiences in the manosphere—“a loosely affiliated network of masculinist websites, blogs and online forums”. (If you’ve watched Adolescence on Netflix, or heard about Andrew Tate, you’d find this highly relevant!) 👨💻
From attending a “pickup artist boot camp” to learn how to initiate hookups with women, to uncovering the origins of the “red pill”, the stance of incels (involuntary celibates), and the insidious process of far-right radicalisation that has led to shocking violent crimes, Bloodworth capably shares insights into the ways susceptible men have been led to believe in extremist views that include misogyny and the cult-like following of “alpha males” or masculinity influencers. 💪
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made me as nauseous as this one, in particular when the dreadfully questionable beliefs and modus operandi of such influencers are described. (It reminds me of the sickening feeling I had when I was watching the influencers in the Netflix documentary by Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.) What entails is an invaluable lesson on the potential harms of the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube and social media, and the dangers of following influencers uncritically. 💊
This is an essential read that I highly recommend! 💯
My rating: 5/5
In it, journalist James Bloodworth reports on his experiences in the manosphere—“a loosely affiliated network of masculinist websites, blogs and online forums”. (If you’ve watched Adolescence on Netflix, or heard about Andrew Tate, you’d find this highly relevant!) 👨💻
From attending a “pickup artist boot camp” to learn how to initiate hookups with women, to uncovering the origins of the “red pill”, the stance of incels (involuntary celibates), and the insidious process of far-right radicalisation that has led to shocking violent crimes, Bloodworth capably shares insights into the ways susceptible men have been led to believe in extremist views that include misogyny and the cult-like following of “alpha males” or masculinity influencers. 💪
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that made me as nauseous as this one, in particular when the dreadfully questionable beliefs and modus operandi of such influencers are described. (It reminds me of the sickening feeling I had when I was watching the influencers in the Netflix documentary by Louis Theroux: Inside the Manosphere.) What entails is an invaluable lesson on the potential harms of the inscrutable algorithms of YouTube and social media, and the dangers of following influencers uncritically. 💊
This is an essential read that I highly recommend! 💯
My rating: 5/5
Read
September 15, 2026All good if you want a sort of summary of the cultural phenomenon we’ve coined the manosphere but less good if you’re looking for an interrogation of a) how it happened, b) where to go from here, or even c) the specific impact it is having on society (or women)
Lowkey 2.5 stars
Lowkey 2.5 stars
June 1, 2026
The background about pick up culture was really interesting. Further in there is a large portion of the book just detailing various manosphere guys, which got a bit tiresome and didn't feel like it offered anything new to the discussion after a while. Was hoping for more deeper analysis but most of it was confined to the relatively brief epilogue.
June 16, 2025
A brilliant important read
August 5, 2025
As a woman interested in reading about toxic masculinity, I thought it important to make sure that I read books written by men from the men’s point of view. I’m glad I did because it was very educational. This is possibly the scariest book I’ve ever read! In having finished it, I find myself teetering on the edge of despair. Men, WHAT THE F**K ARE YOU THINKING!!!!!!!!!
August 7, 2025
easy to read, good, interesting, appreciate a man getting involved in anti-manosphere rhetoric etc.
August 16, 2025
Harrowing. This needs to be required reading for young men.
June 28, 2026
In his 20s James paid for a weekend with a dating coach to help him ‘meet women.’ Years later he is embarrassed by his misguided younger self and looks into the manosphere in a more personal way than the recent, excellent, Louis Theroux documentary.
This book is darkly funny, but ultimately heart breaking. These groups of men so determined to hate, to demand, debase and boast do not come across well. The hollow clang of their actions and words, the posturing and artificiality, and the craven need to be seen, it’s brutally tragic. Pathetic in the sense of pathos.
Teaching consent and respect was such a simple part of parenting that it baffles me how these groups of men flourish and revel in such toxicity.
Raising decent kids with love, curiosity and care will hopefully allow this fog to dissipate.
Very much worth a read. James writes very well.
This book is darkly funny, but ultimately heart breaking. These groups of men so determined to hate, to demand, debase and boast do not come across well. The hollow clang of their actions and words, the posturing and artificiality, and the craven need to be seen, it’s brutally tragic. Pathetic in the sense of pathos.
Teaching consent and respect was such a simple part of parenting that it baffles me how these groups of men flourish and revel in such toxicity.
Raising decent kids with love, curiosity and care will hopefully allow this fog to dissipate.
Very much worth a read. James writes very well.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 109 reviews