Books for men

Additions I didn't see mentioned:

Hyperion series, followed by Ilium Series, then Hyperion Series again. (Dan Simmons)

Chronicles of Thomas Covenant (Stephen R. Donaldson)

Footfall (Larry Niven) primarily for the ending.
 
I am just shocked that no one has mentioned Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.
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I don't think I saw For Whom the Bell Tolls, but that's a Man's Book if there ever was one. Actually, everything by Hemingway should be on this list.

I would also include anything by Raymond Chandler, esp. the early books (Big Sleep comes to my mind).
 
"Power of One" by Bryce Courtenay.

Actually, everyone should read that book. I'd say men would like it slightly more, but it's pretty badass in just about every possible way. It was actually my girlfriend that turned me on to it, but she's a bit of a tomboy, or maybe just a kick-*** girl (which I find awesome).
 
lot's of good recs on this thread.

A couple I enjoyed

Baseball:
Summer of 49' by David Halberstam
Moneyball by Michael Lewis

Hunting:
The Lions of Tsavo by Colonel Patterson
African Game Trails by Theodore Roosevelt

Roosevelt:
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris
The River of Doubt by Candice Millard (about Teddy's final adventure to map an unknown river in Brazil....just about killed him and his son, Kermit).
 
If your into hunting I would suggest William Faulkner's long short story "The Bear" (it is in the "Go Down Moses" collection).

"Your Blues AIn't like Mine" by Bebe Moore Campbell is a good story about the complicated relationship between blacks and whites, and males and females, in Mississippi between the 1950's & 1970's. It is loosely based on the Emmit Till murder in 1955.
 
The Aubrey-Maturin Series (Master and Commander) by Patrick O'Brian

Ice Station Zebra, The Guns of Navarone, Force 10 From Navarone, Where Eagles Dare and Seawitch by Alistair MacLean. Light reading for a plane or road trip. Not great literature by any stretch, but a good read. Also not as time consuming as Clancy or LeCarre.
 
Battle Royal: A story about a class of 14 -15 year old Japanese students forced by their government to kill each other. I am pissed I lost my copy.
 
Art of Loving Erich Fromm

The Tenth Man Graham Greene

Elmer Gantry Sinclair Lewis

Young Men and Fire Norman MacLean (same author of A River Runs Through It...which is also a must read)
 
I will add A Song of Ice and Fire by Gearge RR Martin (currently at book 4 of 7). Less dancing faries and lots of faces getting bashed in in this one.
 
Is there room for more? I know this thread is old and crowded... nevertheless... I'm going to recommend Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis (author of the more critically acclaimed Last Temtpation of Christ, which I didn't enjoy nearly as much as Zorba).

It's a great piece of fiction, but I also picked up some life lessons from it. I don't think I can say that about any other novel I've read. It's no exaggeration to say that without having read that book my life would have been a lot less interesting, a lot less happy, and a lot less honest over the past 5 years. At the same time, it's a very comforting story.

I read it about once every year or two (along with The Stranger and/or A Happy Death).
 
Lots of great selections here -- and I've been making notes on several listed that I want to read.

For me, Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry and The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe are the two must-read guy books above all others.

And if you like The Right Stuff, I also recommend Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities. Trust me the book is 100 X better than the Tom Hanks movie (although I don't think it was as bad as some people made it out to be). And what can be more manly than being a "Master of the Universe"?
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"Darrell Royal Talks Football" with Blackie Sherrod
"One Ranger" by Joaquin Jackson
"The Reivers" by William Faulkner
"Babe" by Robert Creamer
"Goodbye to a River" by John Graves
"Southwest" by John Houghton Allen
"Lee's Lieutenants" by Douglas Southall Freeman
"The Boys of Summer" by Roger Kahn
"Thirteen Days to Glory" by Lon Tinkle
"The Raven" by Marquis James
"Goodbye, Darkness" by William Manchester
"True Grit" by Charles Portis
"The Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter
"Semi-Tough" by Dan Jenkins
"Deliverance" by James Dickey
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madre" by B. Traven
"Texian Iliad" by Stephen Hardin
"You Know Me, Al" by Ring Lardner
"The Stolen Steers" by Bill Brett
"The Right Stuff" by Tom Wolfe
 
" Goodbye to a River" by John Graves has already been mentioned but his other works, "From a Limestone Ledge" and "Hardscrabble" are just as good.

A relatively new author I would recommend is Rick Bragg. He is a former writer for the New York Times but trust me, he is not the stereotypical Times writer. Try all three of his books: " All Over but the Shoutin' ", "Ava"s Man" and "The Prince of Frogtown".

Any collection of essays by Larry L. King will also be excellent.
 
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