12 Rules for Manliness: Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?

by Bear Woznick

Deep in every man’s heart is a call to live the heroic way, to champion a cause greater than himself. The everyday hero goes beyond the ordinary in the little moments of his life and rides high in the saddle as he achieves his principles and dreams. The cowboys of old were, in many ways, the models of manliness. They were perceptive and decisive. They lived by a personal creed – and they knew how to make a stand. They had a simple understanding of what needed to be done, and they did it even when it was difficult. In 12 Rules for Manliness adventurer Bear Woznick lays out a plan to help men learn how to develop a proper personal creed, and then define themselves by the hardships they endure in pursuit of that mission.

216 pages, Hardcover

Published September 18, 2023

Reviews

[Joseph Trujillo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I agree with what the author proposes (although his fitness & dietary advice is certainly not what I’d blanket recommend to most people) - the cowboy and surfer themes are a bit cheesy, but it communicates the points he’s trying to convey. I’d recommend for young teenage boys (or any age, as long as they’re not looking for profound philosophical depth - it’s a simple read, and that’s fine).

[Travis Vermulm · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boy I have mixed feelings about this book.

Bear is, I think, identifying real problems with the way men act today. He has many genuine nuggets of advice that if followed I am confident would lead a man to live a more fulfilling and satisfying life.

Why 2 stars? Because all of that genuinely good advice is coated in a thick layer of corny machismo that I could not bring myself to struggle through. There is no reason this short of a book should have taken me so long to read, but many days I just didn't feel like reading another chapter about Bear's ninja black belts or surfing or motorcycle show or Montana cabin where he built a cabin with his own two hands. I believe he did all those things and they are very cool things to do, but I found his constant reference to them bordering on prideful. I think the worst instance was him describing that he doesn't drink his whiskey with ice but rather fills that glass with frozen bullets as to not 'water down his goals'. (massive eye roll)

Maybe that is to harsh, but I have seen far to many men fall down the rabbit hole of showing their 'manliness' as the brightest exterior sign they can instead of just being MEN. So, yes, there is great advice here, but there is also a large amount of cheese factor and far to many references in the beginning to John Wayne's type of machismo who shouldn't be an example for young men and most certainly not for young Catholic men.

[Zeke Shatzer · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. It took me ages to read bc I read it slowly with my dad. It had some rly good stuff fs, but it just wasn’t great. There were tons of stories and repetition to just fill space; he bragged abt himself a tonnn; and hes Catholic and fairly extreme, so I disagreed with some stuff, too. Overall I did learn some but it just wasn’t great.

[Leo Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s a good book for Catholic men. I felt there were a couple slow points but overall there’s some great though provoking material.