How to get us boys to read about you girls

In light of our recent Pride and Prejudice marathon, where 66% of the boys present succumbed to sleep at some point during the 6 hour long event, one might be tempted to believe that we men are incapable of appreciating so called "girl books". But despite the embarrassing truth that I was one of the guys who nodded off during the P&P viewing, I maintain that this belief is unfounded and untrue. Men are more than capable of enjoying good books, even those popularly believed to be aimed at a female audience, as long as we can find something uniquely suited to the male palette in them. In fact, a recent Slate article (The Little Men who Love Little House) suggests that boys and girls can appreciate the same books but for different reasons:

The real appeal of Little House for many boys probably isn't the narrative, but rather the precise and detailed descriptions of how to tap a maple tree for syrup or load a musket.

Personally, I felt I had developed over the course of six hours of P&P viewing a strong craving to see some vigilante justice dealt to that worm of a man, Mr. Wickham. Imagine my disappointment when I realized that all those fencing scenes where Mr. Darcy demonstrated more than adequate ability to carve up Mr. Wickham with his deft swordsmanship were merely teasers to string me along. The ultimate showdown between the two heroes in this story was a lousy payoff in the form of debt consolidation. What is this? A story for accountants? Show me some blood and fighting!!! As it stands, Mr. Wickham's only punishment at the end of this drawn out story is a life destined to be spent with a naive teenager cursed with a very healthy libido. Woe is him. Come on, for most men this is more fantasy than punishment. I ask you: where is the justice?!?!?

May I suggest that the next book we pick for the book club be written with a suitably balanced blend of rich story development for the girls and tangible action scenes for the boys?


David