Queer Reads: ‘Swole’ by Michael Andor Brodeur examines beef and brawn through a queer lens
Fueled by a lifelong curiosity about masculinity and a passion for bodybuilding, debut author Michael Andor Brodeur, a classical music critic at The Washington Post, gives a wholly unique work that includes a history of the gym, examines the politics of superheroes, and much more.
Swole: The Making of Men and the Meaning of Muscle views masculinity through a queer Gen-X lens and concludes by considering our unaddressed male mental health crisis, fueled by the parasocial pull of online cultures.
The book hit stands on Tuesday. In Swole, Brodeur sums up why brawn deserves our serious consideration. “Men have ended up at a regrettable intersection of contradictions, where their longing for connection and community is stunted by a macho commitment to hyper-individualism.
Where their posture of self-determination is often fed to them like formula from a cast of grifters, gurus, pseudo-intellectual thought leaders, and life coaches,” Brodeur said in the book’s release announcement.
