Coming to a Shelf Near You: Sissy Nation

Author and New York Times contributing writer John Strausbaugh gave a short talk which aired on Book TV this weekend. Strausbaugh condemns America as overweight, overmedicated gadget geeks, who have lost all sense of community in his book Sissy Nation.

Vital Stats

Hardcover: 176 pages
Publisher: Virgin Books (February 5, 2008)
ISBN-10: 190526416X
ISBN-13: 978-1905264162

From the Book Description

Praised by The New York Times Book Review for being "persuasive [and] provocative," John Strausbaugh reveals in furious, funny, and ferocious strokes how Americans became sissified, soft, and scared—and offers us unforgettable solutions on how to snap out of it. The American Sissy cocoons in a safe, virtual world— Fundadome. He plays with online friendsters and he plays with himself, anything to abate the growing anxiety about everything from terrorists to sex and spinach, air and water. He votes for sissy leaders, who lash out at the world like bullies—sissies in tough-guy drag. He's so afraid of death and illness he doesn't really live; he medicates and analyzes. And he’s so busy following the lives of the rich and famous that he has no time to have a rich and fulfilled life of his own. "I don’t mean sissy as girly man versus manly man," Strausbaugh says. "This is not about big biceps. It’s about shrinking balls. And unless we stop acting like such sissies, soon enough some lean, angry barbarians from somewhere out Beyond Fundadome are going to overrun us, ramming their bayonets in our fat guts like fingers poking the Pillsbury Doughboy, and we won't be giggling."

Strausbaugh leaves no sacred cow untipped. He is as non-partisan as he is a straight shooter, taking equal aim at Democrats and Republicans, gays and straights, PETA fanatics, and the Christian right. But all is not lost. Sissy Nation offers "modest proposals" for getting back the gumption that made this culture great.

I just watched the C-SPAN video mentioned above and this looks to be a very thought-provoking read, the kind of book that will challenge just about every reader in some way. I am reminded of Curtis White's brilliant effort The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don't Think for Themselves. In short, Strausbaugh's work looks to be the kind of non-fiction book that I like to read. This is one that I hope to review here at some point.