Book Spotlight: The Art of Manliness
For thousands of years, the skills and knowledge of the art of manliness were passed down from father to son, and from man to man. Each succeeding generation was prepared to take its place in the long and storied history of manhood. But for the past few decades, the chain of manliness has been broken. Many men today have grown up without a father or a positive male role model to mentor them on their road to manhood. The skills that every man should possess have ceased to be passed down and carried forward. At the same time, society has stopped celebrating manliness and has stripped it of its positive qualities, leaving only a shell of negative stereotypes.
But men around the world are tired of this unfortunate status quo. They’re hungry to learn how to man up; they want to reconnect the chain of manliness by becoming a strong link themselves. But where to begin? What things does a man need to know to better himself and journey from boy to man? The Art of Manliness book has the answers and can be your starting point as you travel down the path to true manliness.
While we couldn’t put everything a man needs to know in a book, The Art of Manliness is an excellent introduction to essential man knowledge and the basics of honorable manhood. Read more
The Virginian is the story of a quiet hero, “a courageous loner who follows his private code of honor while prevailing over the forces of evil.” In Owen Wister Out West, Owen Wister’s daughter captures the essence of the historical impact of The Virginian:
When JOAN OF ARC was first published in Harper’s magazine in 1895, the reading public did not recognize Mark Twain behind it. It is ostensibly a translation of Sieur Louis de Conte’s memoirs, the one person who was with Joan during the three important stages of her life: as a visionary village peasant, as a military genius and as the defendant at her trial. The narrator, quiet, retiring and sentimental, is quite unlike the true author. Twain was fascinated by Joan. He spent 12 years in research and made many attempts before finally getting the story right. He wanted to laud Joan for her unique role in history. He was able to do so after studying contemporary accounts written by both sides, the French and the English. 
A seventeen year old boy is stranded alone on an unknown planet. He is excited, terrified and happy for he is here as a final exam. His career goal demands he take a class in survival. The final exam is to survive a few days in the wilderness of an unsettled planet. On his second day in the wilderness, suddenly, everything goes horribly wrong. He loses all his supplies and has to struggle to find food armed only with a knife. The days pass into weeks. The “tunnel in the sky” that brought him to the planet fails to reappear. There is no explanation and no way home. He realizes that he and his classmates are stranded. Now he faces the problem of finding his classmates who are somewhere on the planet. Then, when he finds them, the real problems of survival begin.