In 1991, with BACKLASH, Susan Faludi wrote a book that was nothing less than a landmark, exploring the sociopolitical and economic ravages against women in American society. Now, in STIFFED, she turns a bright and respectful eye to the crisis of men at the beginning of the new millennium. STIFFED is a remarkable achievement and an eye-opening revelation for fans of Faludi's important feminist work.

I have to admit that I approached the book with low expectations --- after all, as a feminist, I am committed to the rights of women in a world where men still run most of this nation's conglomerate companies and dominate all of the state and federal legislatures. Men still earn more than women; but Faludi looks at the majority of men who have little economic power, little or no public influence, and nothing but falsely constructed images of the successful American man of the past to try to live up to. These fault lines are ripping apart the seams of the American myth, and Faludi spares no details in looking at how destructive they are.

At the "bitter heart" of this crisis, she finds an overwhelming sense of paternal abandonment. Her conclusion that men and women have an opportunity to move beyond an adversarial relationship to create change together is almost an obvious one --- but a truly important one, nonetheless. From football to the corporate boardroom, she takes down the reigning mythologies of our vast social landscape and turns over the earth to find black loam that can, hopefully, be planted to grow a new era of understanding for all people.