The Trickster, Magician & Grieving Man: Reconnecting Men With Earth (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Mazis (humanities and philosophy, Pennsylvania State Univ.) provides a wonderfully sensitive discussion of male archetypes that have been largely neglected by the men's movement. For Mazis, the Trickster, the Magician, and the Grieving Man are important to connecting men with feelings (the painful, the playful, the humorous) in everyday life. Beginning with a marvelous analysis of Desert Storm and its analogs in heroic legend, Mazis leads his reader to oases that celebrate interconnection, wonder, willingness to let things happen (rather than asserting control), and facing one's own vulnerability. Highly recommended for public, seminary, and undergraduate libraries.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

We've heard a lot recently about archetypes of masculinity--kings, warriors, and the like. Although important to understanding the male psyche, these images can be retrogressive if we exclude such repressed images as those conjured by philosopher Mazis' title. He argues that Desert Storm is a quintessential image of today's "armored" maleness, raging from a disembodied distance and unleashing megatons of angry sexuality. He criticizes today's men's movement for failing to excavate such images of masculinity as the trickster, the magician-cook, and the grieving man. You need not flush the king and his friends down the (iron) john if they are balanced and brought to earth by these less self-serving masculine images. A sharply written, finely reasoned work. Pat Monaghan

Product Details

• Paperback: 299 pages
• Publisher: Bear & Company (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1879181118
• ISBN-13: 978-1879181113
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #712,478 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author's Comments on the book, December 28, 2004

By	Glen A. Mazis (glenmazis.com) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It is strange that I wrote this book during Desert Storm and ended up comparing the metaphors of abusive forms of masculinity to the metaphors that Bush, senior, was using to promote and describe the war (as well as the then popular Robert Bly in IRON JOHN). The themes explored in the first half of the book: the "tank body," "high altitude living," "missile sexuality," and "the briefing" as communication style would fit the current times and current Bush presidency even better. For me, though, the second half of the book, which describes positive directions for male identity has more excitement in focusing on the archetypes that have been ignored by males in the American culture in seeking stories for renewal. For me, perhaps the strongest parts of the book are the sections on humor and on cooking as honoring the life-death cycle creatively. I have been critized in reviews for being too "universalist," yet this book is aimed very much at current American culture, although I confess that I do believe there are some common human ties, even though my emphasis is on honoring difference. Please check out my website at "glenmazis.com." Thanks.