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Article: Greven, David. Men Beyond Desire: Manhood, Sex, and Violation in American Literature.(Book review)
- Article from:
- Nathaniel Hawthorne Review
- Article date:
- September 22, 2006
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Greven, David. Men Beyond Desire: Manhood, Sex, and Violation in American Literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. 294 pp. $65.00.
Masculinity has always been a disputed area and arena of performance in American literature from its earliest beginnings. Threats from the outside world in terms of violence, violation and possible vacancy and from an inner world of fantasy and self-deception must be held at bay by a strong will as incarnated in a rigorously autonomous, self-reliant posturing and patriarchal preening. One thinks most recently of the film, Brokeback Mountain, where the two male lovers are often seen separately as tough, macho-mouthing men, ...