Young Stephen Dedalus yearns to be an artist, but first must struggle against the forces of church, school, and society, which fetter his imagination and stifle his soul.

Sons and Lovers, D. H. Lawrence's first major novel, was also the first in the English language to explore ordinary working-class life from the inside. No writer before or since has written so well about the intimacies enforced by a tightly knit mining community and by a family where feelings are never hidden for long. When the marriage between Walter Morel and his sensitive, high-minded wife begins to break down, the bitterness of their frustration...

The Mask You Live In follows boys and young men as they struggle to stay true to themselves while negotiating America's narrow definition of masculinity. Pressured by the media, their peer group, and even the adults in their lives, our protagonists confront messages encouraging them to disconnect from their emotions, devalue authentic friendships, objectify and degrade women, and resolve conflicts through violence. These gender stereotypes interconnect...

Virginia Woolf's third novel, Jacob's Room (1922) differs from its two predecessors in its experimental, abstract approach to writing. Jacob Flanders' life is examined largely through the impressions and accounts of others in his life, mostly women, creating a portrait of a young man both representative of and victimized by Edwardian society. The novel coincided with Woolf's emerging interest in feminism and is critical of the righteous patriarchy...

"Peggy Orenstein's Girls & Sex broke ground, shattered taboos, and galvanized conversations about young women's right to pleasure and agency in sexual encounters. It also had an unintended effect on its author: Orenstein realized that talking about girls is only half the conversation. To understand girls and sex, we also need to talk about boys and sex. Today's young men are subject to the same cultural forces as their female peers. They are steeped...

In this powerful new film based on his bestselling book, sociologist Michael Kimmel maps the troubling social world where boys become men -- a new stage of development he calls "Guyland." Arguing that the traditional adult signposts and cultural signals that once helped boys navigate their way to manhood are no longer clear, Kimmel provides an astonishing glimpse into a world where more and more young men are trying desperately to prove their masculinity...

After a chance encounter with an ex-NBA player with his own regrets, recent college graduate Jonah Winters, unsure of what's next, heads to Brazil where he slowly forms an understanding of self, community, and freedom that is rarely afforded to young black men.

A journalist describes his education and the experience of young black men against a backdrop of the Obama administration, the death of Trayvon Martin, the career of LeBron James, and other pivotal influences that have shaped race relations in contemporary America.

Propelled by the pulsing beats of Toronto's early hip-hop scene, Brother is the story of Francis and Michael, sons of Caribbean immigrants maturing into young men. Exploring themes of masculinity, identity, and family, a mystery unfolds during the sweltering summer of 1991, and escalating tensions set off a series of events that change the course of the brothers' lives forever. Brother crafts a timely story about the profound bond between siblings,...