Self-Made Man: One Woman's Year Disguised as a Man

Norah Vincent

Jan 2006 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

A journalist’s provocative and spellbinding account of her eighteen months spent disguised as a man.

Norah Vincent became an instant media sensation with the publication of Self-Made Man, her take on just how hard it is to be a man, even in a man’s world. Following in the tradition of John Howard Griffin (Black Like Me), Vincent spent a year and a half disguised as her male alter ego, Ned, exploring what men are like when women aren’t around. As Ned, she joined a bowling team, took a high-octane sales job, went on dates with women (and men), visited strip clubs, and even managed to infiltrate a monastery and a men’s therapy group. At once thought-provoking and pure fun to read, Self-Made Man is a sympathetic and thrilling tour de force of immersion journalism.

Ratings and reviews

This book brought up and touched a very sensitive issue for men. Norah is very perceptive, I appeciate her non-judgmental & non-ideologized point of view. One point that stings is the underlaying preassure in men's world, placed by societal expectation, by men ourselves and by women. The fact that it's very easy to socially emasculate a man. That we're not enough, never enough, and never will be enough unless we fill whatever arbitrary image placed upon us. I suppose it's a by product of the lack of transition from a child to adult in itself. The transition from girls to womanhood is integral, often perceived after the first menstrual cycle. It shares commonality accross culture. Man don't have that, often the transition iis the fact that we start shouldering more responsibilities. The lack of clear line made men create our own image of what masculinity even is. Growing up as a man, I've seen plenty enough examples of what "manhood" is, including the ridiculous ones.

Profound, Enlightening, Avant-Garde, and Candor-Filled. Thank You Ms. Vincent. Your life and studies are and were not in vain. This book gave me permission to be a man and showed me that I'm not wrong for feeling the way that I do, and described my feelings from a perspective of someone who could tell them more succinctly than I at the time. I'm humbled and privileged to be able to read this book. Thank You.

I'd like to preface this with the fact that I am a man, and read this, perhaps subconsciously, wanting verification for my own experiences. Instead, this has opened my eyes to many insights about my own and others' behavior. There were definitely points I agreed on, and I'm fascinated by the depth of the explanations, as well as points I disagreed on, but gained a useful viewpoint on nonetheless. A fascinating read that I would recommend to any of those willing to enter it with an open mind.

About the author

Norah Vincent (1968-2022) was the New York Times bestselling author of the nonfiction books Self-Made Man: One Woman’s Year Disguised as a Man and Voluntary Madness: Lost and Found in the Mental Healthcare System, as well as two works of fiction: Thy Neighbor and Adeline: A Novel of Virginia Woolf. Formerly an op-ed columnist for the Los Angeles Times, her work also appeared in the New York Times, the New Republic, and the Washington Post, and she contributed regularly to Salon, the Advocate, and the Village Voice. She was a longtime resident of New York City before her passing in 2022.