"The Ultimate Mans Survival Guide"

Has anyone read this book by Frank Minister? I saw it advertised and thought it sounded interesting so I requested it at the library.

I was looking to purchase this book while I was on a business trip but when I saw the price I decided I didn't need it that bad.

I picked this up from the library today and it looks interesting. It has a wide variety of stuff: from tying your tie to "100 book & movies a gentleman should read/see"
I think I'll enjoy reading it!

There seems to be a surge in this sort of thing. A couple months ago I picked up Thomas Fink's The Man's Book which sounds like it covers much of the same subject area. It was interesting and had some neat little trivia, but a lot of it felt like things I already knew well.

The book is divided into sections: survival, providing, athletics, heroics, gentleman-like behavior. Its really a potpourri of info....everything from tying knots to fighting off a bear.
I think the book's basic premise is that, in this day and age, young men grow up without learning (or even being exposed to) a lot of the basics every guy used to need to know to survive. I suspect Frank Miniter may have been a Scout!

Basic premise for today's society is that young men shouldn't be taught basic guy stuff. Too, dangerous ya know. Men are supposed to be more in touch with their emotions and nature. It changes over a period of time if the culture isn't static societally.
Here in Phoenix an 8yr old nigerian girl was raped by 3 nigerian boys, oldest 14. They lured the girl into an empty building with gum and raped her. The parents of the girl blamed her for the rape and disowned her. It should be noted that in Nigeria rape wasn't illegal until 2006.
Not everything taught by society is a good thing. We need to get back to Western Culture basics and these books seem to an attempt to do just that.

First time I noticed a book like this was The Dangerous Book for Boys. It's a book that can be read guys (big and little). Fun things like how to train a dog, make paper airplanes, famous battles, science experiments, the Constitution. If you have a son, I HIGHLY suggest picking it up, I'm already doing some of the projects with my own son.

RayH said:

Basic premise for today's society is that young men shouldn't be taught basic guy stuff. Too, dangerous ya know. Men are supposed to be more in touch with their emotions and nature. It changes over a period of time if the culture isn't static societally.
Here in Phoenix an 8yr old nigerian girl was raped by 3 nigerian boys, oldest 14. They lured the girl into an empty building with gum and raped her. The parents of the girl blamed her for the rape and disowned her. It should be noted that in Nigeria rape wasn't illegal until 2006.
Not everything taught by society is a good thing. We need to get back to Western Culture basics and these books seem to an attempt to do just that.

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RayH said:

Basic premise for today's society is that young men shouldn't be taught basic guy stuff. Too, dangerous ya know. Men are supposed to be more in touch with their emotions and nature. It changes over a period of time if the culture isn't static societally.
Here in Phoenix an 8yr old nigerian girl was raped by 3 nigerian boys, oldest 14. They lured the girl into an empty building with gum and raped her. The parents of the girl blamed her for the rape and disowned her. It should be noted that in Nigeria rape wasn't illegal until 2006.
Not everything taught by society is a good thing. We need to get back to Western Culture basics and these books seem to an attempt to do just that.

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Er... huh?

I don't think our culture is teaching that to young boys. Although I don't want to make accusations that are unwarranted, perhaps the past culture of those boys parents might have had a role to play in their upbringing. Obviously I don't know anything about the case, except that no where in our society is rape tolerated. No matter how liberal or conservative your views are.

Sounds like another shlub cutting and pasting the best of B&B.

I think the author points out how, in "recent" (say, the past 50-60) years, men are maturing without knowing any of "the basics" that have been SOP for hundreds of years. Instead of learning to hunt (ie: provide food), camping and orienteering (survival), etc. its now operating a computer, GPS, and whatnot. One could argue that those skills are obsolete which only reinforces his point.
Whatever one believes about guns and hunting....learning basic gun-handling, tracking, etc. teaches lessons on many levels. I think he's saying to prepare oneself to take charge in an emergency, keep a cool head, and to be a good citizen. Those skills are timeless.
I think he notices are society at a point where there's all kinds of talk about accepting "alternative lifestyles" at the same time that there's squabble about saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school!

tsmba said:

I think the author points out how, in "recent" (say, the past 50-60) years, men are maturing without knowing any of "the basics" that have been SOP for hundreds of years. Instead of learning to hunt (ie: provide food), camping and orienteering (survival), etc. its now operating a computer, GPS, and whatnot. One could argue that those skills are obsolete which only reinforces his point.
Whatever one believes about guns and hunting....learning basic gun-handling, tracking, etc. teaches lessons on many levels. I think he's saying to prepare oneself to take charge in an emergency, keep a cool head, and to be a good citizen. Those skills are timeless.
I think he notices are society at a point where there's all kinds of talk about accepting "alternative lifestyles" at the same time that there's squabble about saying the Pledge of Allegiance in school!

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I think folks are reading way more into these books than intended by the author.