This Will Make a Man of You: One Man?s Search for Hemingway and Manhood in a Changing World

by Frank Miniter

Overview

One man's quest to becoming a man that Hemingway would be proud to call un compadre.

Ben Franklin. Teddy Roosevelt. John Wayne. Babe Ruth. Ernest Hemingway. Looking to follow in the footsteps of these manly men, Frank Miniter decided to go to the places we all agree still make men. This quest led him across the world and finally to a secret fraternity of men who keep an ultimate rite of passage alive.

Following the route of the iconic “Papa” Hemingway from Paris to Pamplona with he found that the answers to what happened to manliness, and therefore to what makes men, are in Hemingway’s story. Part memoir, part how-to guide, This Will Make a Man of You narrates one man’s journey to achieving manliness and uncovers a formula the ancients used to build men of character—a methodology that is still used in the places we all agree still make men. Even better, this formula can help all of us become all we want to be.

Through his narrative, Miniter recounts his decision to run with the bulls and his harrowing participation in that intense event with a secretive fraternity of men and women. As he goes he provides readers with sage advice on how they can accomplish their own feats of manliness by using an ancient formula.
This is a must-read for every young man looking for a way to become man, for any middle-aged family man seeking adventure, and for all the other types of men in-between. This Will Make a Man Out of You should be read by every red-blooded male.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781510711938
Publisher:	Skyhorse
Publication date:	11/15/2016
Sold by:	SIMON & SCHUSTER
Format:	eBook
Pages:	188
Sales rank:	841,917
File size:	562 KB

About the Author

Frank Miniter is the author of the New York Times bestseller The Ultimate Man's Survival Guide and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Hunting. Miniter is the former executive editor of American Hunter (an NRA magazine) and a former senior editor of Outdoor Life. Miniter is also the ultimate man. He has run with the bulls of Pamplona, snowshoed the Klondike, hunted Russian bears in Kaleria, and survived everywhere from the Amazon to the streets of Manhattan. He lives in Red Hook, New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Shining Example of a Man xi

1 Chasing an Ideal 1

The Hemingway man drew me in, as no transformative rite of passage can begin until you see the archetype you want to be, but he was altogether more than expected.

2 The Terror and the Confusion 33

Fighting bulls were the rite's terror and confusion. Whatever the rituals in a true rite of passage bring, they are there to rip away the walls around your ego and ready you for what's next.

3 The Guides 57

My guide was Juan Macho, a veteran bull runner and a Hemingway scholar. In any rite of passage, a sensei, drill sergeant, coach, or teacher will confront you. If a guide isn't apparent, one must be sought, as no rite of passage is real without enforcers and mythmakers. (Beware: a poor guide can ruin a grunt, student, or plebe.)

4 The Gauntlets 93

Now came the trials of running with bulls. The gauntlets in a rite of passage can be as ghastly as gloves filled with bullet ants, as grueling as boot camp, or as heart-pounding as running in a packed Spanish street with bulls; but whatever it requires, its challenges are there to prepare you for a metamorphosis that will only come if you endure the tests of mind, body, and spirit.

5 The Codes 107

All real rites of passage have moral codes as their foundations, because without them the change isn't lasting. Perhaps this is why Hemingway was obsessed with his code. Whatever the case, the basis of Hemingway's code is surprising.

6 The Reckoning 123

As you struggle and endure, you'll get the first taste of being what you've been pursuing. If you accept this, you'll be forever changed, still yourself but purified in a manly role.

7 The Way 141

If you pass the tests, you will be accepted among men of honor in a unit, team, company, firehouse, dojo, or, in my case, a peña. You are in a guarded society, a fraternity of men. But you also know the archetype you're trying to live up to will abandon you if you break the code, that to be all you can be, you must live up to something other than yourself. Of course it is much more than this, but that is why this is a book.

Appendix: Codes of Honor 149

Use these codes to write your own.

About the Author 173

Editorial Reviews

"Written with the style and attention to detail reminiscent of the late Ernest Hemingway, best-selling author and accomplished outdoorsman Frank Miniter’s This Will Make a Man of You: One Man’s Search for Hemingway and Manhood in a Changing World is a treat." — The GunMag

“Miniter is the perfect guide to this discussion of manliness. He has worked as what I’d call a ‘participatory journalist’ in some of the manliest places on Earth: backwoods hunting camps, Capitol Hill, the African outback, fishing boats, and debate societies. His ear is tuned to nuance, but he writes with the power of conviction. He’s one of the manliest men I know.” —Andrew McKean, editor of Outdoor Life

“This Will Make a Man of You lifted a veil from my eyes of what I now perceive I saw in my sons and witnessed in my husband. Women should buy this book for their husbands, boyfriends, sons, and brothers. It’s an action-packed narrative that shows them how to be the men they want to be—and we need them to be.” —Barbara Baird, Women’s Outdoor News

“If you care about fresh views of Hemingway, our most popular and enduring writer; about manhood and womanhood (or personhood, humanhood); about honor and values and what William Faulkner called ‘the eternal verities,’ what Hemingway called ‘the real old things’—you should be reading this book now.” —H. R. Stoneback, president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, author of Reading Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Hemingway’s Paris: Our Paris?

“Frank Miniter is one of the most incisive writers in America today.” —Avik Roy, Forbes opinion editor

“As a mom raising three young boys, it was an absolute joy to read This Will Make a Man of You. Miniter offers moms like me some much needed guidance and reassurance that raising men is still an honorable pursuit. From his chilling ruminations on running with the bulls to his often sensitive and thoughtful observations to becoming all we can be, this book is an antidote to what’s wrong with today’s often-misguided view of manliness.” —Julie Gunlock, senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum

“This insightful book upends today’s politically correct attacks on manliness. It’s a thrilling read, but also is just what our society needs. Through an engaging and thought-provoking pursuit of the real Ernest Hemingway, this book takes you onto the streets of Pamplona and the infamous Running of the Bulls. But this is not simply a chance to take a selfie with a horned beast. It is a pilgrimage to discover the self and to find out what it takes to become all we can be.” —Alan Peterson, award-winning documentary filmmaker

“Who knows more about making manly Americans than Frank Miniter? He knows the Constitution, he knows God, and he certainly knows his guns. This is a must read for parents and a recommended read for every teenager who wants to become the kind of citizen the founders of this great country imagined.” —Lars Larson, host of the Lars Larson Show

“Frank Miniter delivers a rollicking adventure full of hoof-pounding thrills, bursts of raw adrenaline, and hard-earned wisdom and insight in his quest for answers to one of the timeless questions: What does it mean to be a man?” —Cam Edwards, author of Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice

"Miniter can think, write, and throw a punch." —Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review

"Read it aloud everywhere you go." —Ted Nugent

"Written with the style and attention to detail reminiscent of the late Ernest Hemingway, best-selling author and accomplished outdoorsman Frank Miniter’s This Will Make a Man of You: One Man’s Search for Hemingway and Manhood in a Changing World is a treat." — The GunMag

“Miniter is the perfect guide to this discussion of manliness. He has worked as what I’d call a ‘participatory journalist’ in some of the manliest places on Earth: backwoods hunting camps, Capitol Hill, the African outback, fishing boats, and debate societies. His ear is tuned to nuance, but he writes with the power of conviction. He’s one of the manliest men I know.” —Andrew McKean, editor of Outdoor Life

“This Will Make a Man of You lifted a veil from my eyes of what I now perceive I saw in my sons and witnessed in my husband. Women should buy this book for their husbands, boyfriends, sons, and brothers. It’s an action-packed narrative that shows them how to be the men they want to be—and we need them to be.” —Barbara Baird, Women’s Outdoor News

“If you care about fresh views of Hemingway, our most popular and enduring writer; about manhood and womanhood (or personhood, humanhood); about honor and values and what William Faulkner called ‘the eternal verities,’ what Hemingway called ‘the real old things’—you should be reading this book now.” —H. R. Stoneback, president of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and Society, author of Reading Hemingway’s The Sun Also Rises and Hemingway’s Paris: Our Paris?

“Frank Miniter is one of the most incisive writers in America today.” —Avik Roy, Forbes opinion editor

“As a mom raising three young boys, it was an absolute joy to read This Will Make a Man of You. Miniter offers moms like me some much needed guidance and reassurance that raising men is still an honorable pursuit. From his chilling ruminations on running with the bulls to his often sensitive and thoughtful observations to becoming all we can be, this book is an antidote to what’s wrong with today’s often-misguided view of manliness.” —Julie Gunlock, senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum

“This insightful book upends today’s politically correct attacks on manliness. It’s a thrilling read, but also is just what our society needs. Through an engaging and thought-provoking pursuit of the real Ernest Hemingway, this book takes you onto the streets of Pamplona and the infamous Running of the Bulls. But this is not simply a chance to take a selfie with a horned beast. It is a pilgrimage to discover the self and to find out what it takes to become all we can be.” —Alan Peterson, award-winning documentary filmmaker

“Who knows more about making manly Americans than Frank Miniter? He knows the Constitution, he knows God, and he certainly knows his guns. This is a must read for parents and a recommended read for every teenager who wants to become the kind of citizen the founders of this great country imagined.” —Lars Larson, host of the Lars Larson Show

“Frank Miniter delivers a rollicking adventure full of hoof-pounding thrills, bursts of raw adrenaline, and hard-earned wisdom and insight in his quest for answers to one of the timeless questions: What does it mean to be a man?” —Cam Edwards, author of Heavy Lifting: Grow Up, Get a Job, Start a Family, and Other Manly Advice

"Miniter can think, write, and throw a punch." —Rich Lowry, editor of the National Review

"Read it aloud everywhere you go." —Ted Nugent

From the Publisher