Self-Made Man

“A thoughtful, entertaining piece of first-person investigative journalism. Though there's plenty of humor in
Self-Made Man
, Vincent—like her spiritual forbear John Howard Griffin…—treats her self-imposed assignment seriously, not as a stunt….
Self-Made Man
transcends its premise altogether, offering not an undercover woman's take on male experience, but simply a fascinating, fly-on-the wall look at various unglamorous male milieus that are well off the radar of most journalists and book authors…. So rich and so audacious…[I was] hooked from page 1.”

—David Kamp,
The New York Times Book Review

“[Norah Vincent is] the new Steinem.”

—
William Safire,
The New York Times

“Vincent's account of how she ‘became' a man is undeniably fascinating.”

—Los Angeles Times Book World

“Moving and often illuminating…
Self-Made Man
is an exhilarating book.”

—Joyce Carol Oates,
The Times Literary Supplement

“Eye-opening…While the side effects of Vincent's experiment are fascinating, it is her field reporting from Planet Guy that holds the most novelty.
Self-Made Man
will make many women think twice about coveting male ‘privilege' and make any man feel grateful that his gender burden is better understood.”

—
The Washington Post

“Empathetic, explosive insights.”

—
New York Post

“This isn't a we-are-the-world book in which Vincent rejoices in our common humanity. It's too subtle for that, too smart and too honest.”

—
Time

“If there's a more interesting book on the market today, we don't know what it is.”

—
Austin American-Statesman

“Vincent can be a candid and brave writer, always eager to avoid political cant and hackneyed thinking, and this male reader kept turning the pages eagerly. Vincent has glimpsed some things about manhood that hardly any women get to see…. Vincent's moments of sharpest perception—into the intricacies of male camaraderie, or the dreary, mutually hostile gamesman-ship of heterosexual dating—feel unfakable, and if she were making it all up the material would probably be both more explosive and less ambiguous…Her bowling chapter (“Friendship”) is a mini-masterpiece of sympathetic reporting, and there's no question that it took enormous courage for this New York lesbian intellectual to walk into a highly competitive bowling league somewhere in the American heartland, one of the most male of all male sanctums.”

—
Salon

“The details of her transformation are fascinating…Compulsively readable.”

—
The Dallas Morning News

“This thoroughly accessible and well-wrought tale of her year and a half as Ned Vincent is fascinating in its conception, stylish in its execution, and a rollicking good read…. It is impossible not to like Vincent, to empathize with her struggles, and root for her success…. She pulls it off with passion, gusto, honesty, and a healthy sprinkling of colorful words to flesh out her characters…. Vincent's fascinating experiment makes for a positively delicious read…. Brava, Miss Vincent. Atta boy, Ned.”

—
The American Enterprise

“Captivating…Will forever change the way you see men—and perhaps yourself.”

—
Marie Claire

“Sane and compassionate…It is this confidence and compassion, even more than her derring-do, that make Ms. Vincent such a good secret agent in the gender wars.”

—
The New York Sun

“It says a lot that it took a woman to provide such a sharp and entertaining analysis of what it's like to be a man in the post-feminist world.”

—
Mother Jones

“Self-Made Man was a book begging to be written.”

—
The Portland Mercury

“Remarkable…Vincent's experiment could help us fight fewer battles in the war between the sexes.”

—
SF Weekly

“Lucid, engaging, and remarkably insightful…It's a must-read for anyone curious about the masks thrust upon us by gender roles, sexual identity and the surprisingly false conceptions we all have about what makes a man—well, a man.”

—
Willamette Week

“Entertaining.”

—
Charleston Post and Courier

“A fascinating, truly weird account of a female journalist who dresses in drag for eighteen months in order to feel men's pain…One of the curiouser books of late—sure to attract attention.”

—
Kirkus Reviews
(starred review)

“A spellbinding, eye-opening personal narrative…With intelligence and sensitivity, Vincent relates her experiences and surprising discoveries about the secrets and rites of male society and the daily fears and desires of individual men.”

—
Library Journal

“Awfully fun to read…For fans of
Nickel and Dimed
-style immersion reporting, this book is a sure bet.”

—
Publishers Weekly

“Funny, compelling, and human.”

—
The Times
(London)

“Not many women could get away with successfully impersonating a man over a long period, but then, not many men have the balls Norah Vincent has…. This is an addictive, enthralling read: each chapter is progressively more fascinating as Ned becomes more ensconced in his new life.”

—
The Guardian
(London)

“Masterful. It's one of the few books about men that has actually made me feel sorry for them.”

—Lionel Shriver,
The Guardian
(London)

“This eloquently constructed book makes for fascinating reading, as much for the chronicle of her own journey as for her insights into the male condition.”

—
Metro
(UK)

“Fascinating.”

—
Sunday Express
(UK)

“An extraordinary human document, rich in empathy and insight. Readers expecting a light read about a diverting stunt will find themselves taking a riveting and richly illuminating journey into some of their own deepest truths. You start out peeping into a window and end up staring into a mirror.”

—Bruce Bawer, author of
While Europe Slept

“A fascinating, original and often hilarious long day's journey into the world of men. Posing as a man and infiltrating the female-free places males congregate, Norah Vincent finds the male precincts to be a lot better—and a lot worse—than most women ever imagine.”

—Christina Hoff Sommers, author of
Who Stole Feminism?
and
The War Against Boys

“This gripping book got me through a delayed transatlantic flight beside a shrieking baby. Could I say more? It was high-risk stuff, Norah Vincent's undercover research into what men are like when they're in the places where men are men. The reader's heart beats fast at the chances she took. In adventure writing like this it is the quality of the adventurer that matters. Norah Vincent's perceptiveness, and above all her large sympathies, make her the perfect guide.”

—Nuala O'Faolain, author of
Are You Somebody?
and
The Story of Chicago May

Praise for Norah Vincent

“Norah Vincent is a true freethinker and independent journalist in the European manner, challenging prevailing assumptions in academe, politics, and media. Her work has always had a bold skepticism and energy. She is a model of pragmatic, enlightened feminism.”

—Camille Paglia

One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man

Penguin Books

To my beloved wife, Lisa McNulty,
who saves my life on a daily basis

PENGUIN BOOKS

Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
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First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2006
Published in Penguin Books 2007

Copyright © Norah Vincent, 2006

All rights reserved

ISBN: 1-4295-2028-0

CIP data available

Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

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But this my masculine usurped attire…

Conceal me what I am, and be my aid

For such disguise as haply shall become

The form of my intent…

Disguise, I see, thou art a wickedness

Wherein the pregnant enemy does much.

—Twelfth Night

Were it not better,

Because that I am more than common tall,

That I did suit me all points like a man?

Lie there what hidden woman's fear there will,

We'll have a swashing and a martial outside,

As many other mannish cowards have

That do outface it with their semblances.

—As You Like It