Men's Studies, Masculinity, Parenting - General & Miscellaneous
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Overview
Boys To Men: Maps For The Journey, written by Emmy Award-winning actor GregAlan Williams is a road map to adulthood for young men today—and a jumping-off place for parental discussions about alcohol, drugs, and sex that are vital to the livelihood of today's boys and tomorrow's men.Convinced for many years that drugs, alcohol, and women made him a man, Williams lived self-destructively. Caught up in his illusions about what manhood meant, Williams was an absent father, friend and lover. Then, in 1992, Williams came into his own during the Los Angeles riots when he pulled a Japanese-American man from the center of an angry mob. This action, praised as heroic by the media, was recorded in his earlier book, A Gathering of Heroes.
In Boys to Men, Williams speaks honestly about the lessons he has learned: the importance of "showing up for life" and "Good Orderly Direction (G.O.D.)," of how to define yourself in the face of peer pressure and how to resist joining in the violence around you.
Williams's message cuts across race and class to help us guide our sons and to strengthen our courage as parents. His book is an important resource in the struggle to save our sons.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
Williams, a former actor on Baywatch and author of a memoir of the Los Angeles riots (A Gathering of Heroes), has trodden a hard road to maturity, and in this collection of inspirational essays, he attempts to pass on lessons learned. Growing up fatherless in Des Moines, the author thought "a man's worth was measured primarily in relation to women, wealth, and war." Drinking and drugs, he adds, helped him ignore the challenge of trying to be his best, and he initially ignored the son he fathered. But Williams found what he calls Good Orderly Direction (G.O.D.) from many sources: religion, friends, nature. Now he emphasizes education and service. As an African American, Williams offers a special message to black youths concerned that there may be only one way to be authentically black, who grow up in a rap-infused culture that denigrates women and who may reflexively blame racism for more complicated problems. However, his earnest wisdom can devolve into clichs and his anecdotes meander. His book reads like transcribed speeches, and Williams, a public speaker, likely best delivers his message in person. (Feb.)Library Journal
Shifting to an even more personal note than his previous A Gathering of Heroes: Reflection on Rage and Responsibility (Academy Chicago, 1994), Emmy Award- winning actor Williamsseen on TV's Baywatch and Baywatch Nightsoffers a mix of introspection, pep talk, reflection on life, and self-help philosophy about being a man today. Commenting on anger, baggage, education, failure, fatherhood, fear, good orderly direction, honor, sorrow, violence, and warriors, Williams urges boys and menparticularly black boys and mento do the right thing. And that is to take responsibility for self, to strive to do better, to be sensitive to others, and to learn from life. He shares his focus on black manhood with many previous authors, from Ernest J. Gaines (In My Father's House, 1978) to Earl Hutchinson Ofari (The Assassination of the Black Male Image, LJ 10/1/96), but the autobiographical elements place Williams's book in a class by itself. For collections on teenagers, parenting, and contemporary society.Thomas J. Davis, Arizona State Univ., TempeBook Details
Published
February 1, 1997
Publisher
Doubleday
Pages
224
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780385486873