"Books That Will Make You a Better Man"

I think Esquire is kind of a waste of paper these days, but they practically give the thing away--right now, online, you can subscribe for 2 years for $12, or 1 year for $8. You can ignore the content and just look at the ads, from which you will learn what the unrepentant rich are aquiring these days.

But I digress. The May issue has some reading recommendations.

"Everybody says men don't read novels anymore. I tell them that's why so many men are asses. Good novels don't just describe the lives of men; they make arguments about the kind of men we ought to be. They inspire improvement."

This is a quip that doesn't hold up under close analysis, but then not much in this magazine does. Never mind: books are being recommended and I can always get bind that. And the books are:
The Signal, by Ron Carlson; Road Dogs, by Elmore Leonard; How to Sell, by Clancy Martin, and Waveland, by Frederick Barthelme; and Pygmy, by Chuck Palahniuk.

Okay, now that I've tried to redeem myself after trashing the magazine, let me try a little harder. I was pleasantly surprised to discover a fair amount of fiction available at the magazine's website, and an announcement that this is a new regular feature. Check out Esquire Fiction. And I was further pleasantly surprised to discover that the magazine is running another fiction contest. Lots of time to enter. The deadline is August 1.