Customer Reviews

Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion: How You and Other Young Men Can Claim All the Happiness in the World

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Jack Kammer must have been speaking to some of my needs and desires as well as those of his target audience, because I could hardly put this book down until I was done with it. And I'm 51.

The central premise of this book is that boys and young men are being hurt by cultural conventions and commonly accepted assumptions about men and the male experience that devalue and disregard both their inner and outer lives. Some of this damage is occurring as the result of misunderstanding and some of it is being inflicted to maintain advantage. Unfortunately, older males, immersed as they are in their own struggles and points of view, are and have been largely unavailable to help boys and young men identify and work toward resolution of these issues.

As a result, Mr. Kammer has taken the approach of attempting to address boys and young men directly, and he has done so in a style that is friendly, candid, engaging, and encouraging.

I had a very upsetting experience recently that validated the need for what Mr. Kammer is trying to accomplish with this book, and his strategy for reaching out to younger males to do it. I was in the "break room" at work (a horrid little narrow enclosed space with microwave ovens, vending machines, and fluorescent overhead lights) and I heard a group of guys I know who are in their late 30s to late 40s sharing "funny stories" about the beatings they received from their dads when they were boys. There wasn't a trace of sadness, anger, outrage, or injustice from any of them, not the storytellers and not the listeners, and many of these men have boys in their early teens. One of the men was actually laughing about how funny he always thought it was when he saw his father beating his brother, because his brother was "jumping around to get away" and "making such a fuss about it." The consensus, from both the speakers and the listeners, was that these stories were hilarious and, furthermore, that the beatings were "necessary" to "keep them in line" and "show them how to behave."

Now these are not bad guys. All of them are actually quite entertaining and very likable, and I know they care about their children, all of which only fed the cognitive dissonance I experienced during and after hearing what they were saying. I knew they were speaking out of a place of frozen feelings, rationalization, and the conditioning that allowed them to shut down and distance from themselves so they could bear what was being done to them when they were children who couldn't fight back. But I also knew that these were grown men who'd abdicated their responsibilities to deal with their own experiences and histories, and in the process, abandoned the next generation of boys and men, some of whom are their own sons.

How can these guys be the kinds of fathers who teach their boys how to be mature, courageous, fully functional, loving and self-aware men? Those boys will be, and have been, on their own in that respect. So I think Mr. Kammer is right to try to reach out directly to this next generation of young men in the way he's chosen, because so many of their fathers aren't going to listen to him, or me, or anyone else.

I know that at least one of the men who was telling his "funny stories" feels castrated, powerless, hopeless, and victimized in what he sees as a dead-end job, because he's told me so more than once, although not in those words. He knows he's being used, backstabbed, and manipulated by cowardly managers who only see him as a means to an end. But he doesn't see, or doesn't want to see, the connection between how he feels today and how he was "kept in line" as a child. These guys get all bound up in their pension plans and mortgages and they feel too trapped to feel anything that might threaten any of it. And they're passing the same trap on to their sons.

So I'm excited to see this book. I support its message, and I hope it reaches some of the many boys who are struggling to be themselves without many (or any) good male models for doing so, because their fate is truly in their own hands.

Rick Belden
Author, Iron Man Family Outing : Poems About Transition Into A More Conscious Manhood

I LOVED this book. Once I started it, I could not put it down. Once I finished it, I ordered ten copies and will give them to ten men and boys I know who will also love it and be equally moved by it.

Mr. Kammer has done what I might have thought was impossible, to take the emotional heart of so many of the recent and not-so-recent books about men and boys (from Farrell's _Myth of Male Power_ to _Real Boys_, _Raising Cain_ etc.), and frame it in a way that will speak to, and hopefully motivate boys and young men to publicly speak out about gender inequities and societally sanctioned ways to shoehorn boys into the role of worker drones who too often are isolated from their friends, their families, and themselves and their true passions. It will also help them/us to privately reflect on how comfortable we really are with these assumed roles, and to be freer with imagining a world where men (and women) have more choice about work.

My favorite section, besides (surprisingly) the footnotes - which are scrupulously researched and carefully garnered to support the kinds of discussions that this book will inevitably lead to - was the section on building allies in this rebellion: practical techniques for how to deal with predictable setbacks and challenges that will arise from different quarters as young men begin to get more free. All in all, it is a book that speaks as from an uncle's caring vantage to boys ages 13 - 23 about their identity and other core, important ideas - and, if they like what they hear, gives them great practical strategies to begin to change their world and ours into a more beautiful and humane place. And so I say, let the Blue Sky Rebellion begin!!!

Jack Kammer has done what should be done with this topic. He's created a book that young men everywhere can read and comprehend - understanding where men are given the short end of the stick in our society. However, Jack did not choose to write an angry rant against the 'system.' Instead, he has chosen the more difficult - but ultimately more effective - path of helping young men understand how to command respect and keep their self-esteem under their own control. Rather than waiting until we've grown up and been programmed to feel inadequate because of our gender, Jack is educating young men everywhere on how to avoid the problem before it starts.

He's teaching not to be angry at the injustice, but to take the reins of their own happiness.

"Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion" is a short and effective read, from start to finish. His research is solid, and completely documented.

I highly recommend this become a required read for young men who are growing into their own mature identity - for the good of men AND women everywhere.

[...]

In our culture, there are few resources available for boys as they enter adulthood. Jack Kammer's book addresses this deficit in a concise, straightforward style.

Kammer's message is simple: boys and young men should be free to feel and express themselves however they want, without having the emotional straightjacket of the traditional male gender role forced upon them--just as feminism has encouraged girls to free themselves from the restrictions of the traditional female gender role.

The result is a well-written and well-researched tome that truly supports the emotional well-being of our boys and young men.

Jack Kammer's book Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion is not only a must read for young men, but also for their mothers, fathers and sisters. The book not only identifies many of the challenges facing young men in today's society, but also provides a detailed plan of action.

In the text Mr. Kammer provides solid evidence of the imbalance in opportunities afforded young men when compared to young women. The book should not be viewed as a threat to women, conversely women should really embrace his ideas. For his goals of boys and men to be happy, healthy and fairly treated are good for everyone.

Hopefully this book will ignite the fire in young men to take control and demand the right to determine their own future. For it is they who have the power to change today's world!!

Patrick Feeley

Society's mind molders (the schools, colleges, and media) relentlessly send boys and men the message that they are inferior and oppressors of females. It is beyond the scope of this review to document the net falsity of that assertion, but this book is a most useful and, alas, rare antidote to that decimation of males. First, the book carefully documents today's unfair treatment of boys and men. It then presents male-friendly but not-at-all female-unfriendly recommendations for what boys and young men can do to improve their lives and not feel shame for being male. Even though the book is brief, I'm not sure that the average teenage boy, on his own would read it--it's a bit adult in writing style but I think it is an excellent book for a parent and teenager (male OR female) to read together.

This book can be used to spark conversation among sons and their mentors. It needs to be reviewed in a group setting with instructions, especially for teens to grasp the concepts. It is an easier read for a college student.

Jack Kammer's book is not only one of the most needed books for young men, its one of the most overdue books. The way that this book presents the topic of masculinity and its struggles in perfect. I can only imagine how hard it is to write a book for an age group for men 13-23 and not have it either too deep for the younger or too superficial for the older. This book, however, holds the attention and presents points that are clear, interesting, and most of all, IMPORTANT. Every young man should read this book.
I personally am on the older side of the age group that this book targets and found it helpful to this day. Having been raised by a mother who agrees with Jack in many respects, and in her own way went to great lengths to keep in mind and teach many of the things Jack Kammer's writings touch on, I believe I'm a better and happier man.

Jack Kammer's latest book, "Heroes of the Blue Sky Rebellion" (a brilliant follow-up to "If Men Have All the Power How Come Women Make the Rules?") is as concise and succinct a statement of egalitarian values as can be found anywhere, offering a radical departure from that strange and ever curious pick-and-choose brand of "equality" that has been the feminist modus operandi since day one.

On so many fronts, Kammer points out the myriad ways in which boys and men are so often dealt the short end, and how such discriminatory, anti-male biases and double standards need not simply be accepted, but can instead be forthrightly stood up to and overcome.

Although Mr. Kammer's target audience is young men age 13-23, I wholeheartedly recommend this book for all ages of both sexes. All who honor and value true gender equality will appreciate it and recommend it as well.

After reading the other reviews, I felt a little intimidated to write my own, but here goes. I am a working wife and Mom with 2 college age kids (one is a 21 year old man) and found this book to be exceptional. Jack Kammer has done his research well. In a positive (at times humorous) and respectful way, he has helped the young men of 2011 stand up for themselves. This book would definitely help a young man who has issues not being treated equally as girls. It used to be the other way around...boys got preferential treatment with better math & science classes. Then the feminist movement took over, veering in an opposite extreme. I feel sad for teenage boys today because they don't stand a chance with some of these girls. ALL people should be treated with respect. I support Jack's message, and I hope it reaches lots of boys who are struggling to be themselves. Thank you, Jack, for being a good role model and giving them hope!