I was well on my way to a spectacular reading month when I left to go to Worldcon in Reno. Still, managed to finish one book and start another.  Then my friend Bill died. I didn’t even read a newspaper for days. So the pickings were slim in August, but they were good pickings, just the same. August, 2011 Chiarella, Tom, “What Is A Man: An Experiment,” Esquire, June/July, 2011.  Esquire does essays like this on occasion, where the author (usually a guy) tries something socially unacceptable. Chiarella decided to drop the trappings of manhood—from things as trivial as holding a door for a woman to deeply personal behaviors which I’m not going to mention here. He did so partly as a thought experiment, partly to understand himself. I found … Read entire article »