What, other than literary fiction, is occupying the young male today? I posited, among other attractions, online gambling and video gaming. This drew strong reactions, particularly from gamers who suggested almost as many women are playing today. Fair enough, if men still seem drawn to the more immersive and addicting franchises like Fortnite and Call of Duty or the multigenerational pastime of Madden. John Pistelli, the novelist and literary critic, offered a thoughtful response to my most recent essay on the vanishing male in contemporary literature, arguing that “men who already have intellectual and literary ambitions are probably now drawn to writing nonfiction, particularly theory and philosophy of various sorts, rather than fiction.” Pistelli notes, since the 1980s, theorists have had a dominion over novelists in the academy—in English classes, theory is used to deconstruct the novel, after all. I agree with Pistelli and I would go even further: nonfiction, more than theory itself, is the greater lure for bookish men who seek status and acclaim.
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