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    Every Boy Should Have a Man
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    Every Boy Should Have a Man
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    Every Boy Should Have a Man
    Ebook221 pages3 hours

    Every Boy Should Have a Man

    By Preston L. Allen

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Nominated for the 2014 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Fiction!

    A Chicago Tribune Noteworthy Fiction Pick for 2013

    "Allen's concise book's power lies within its understated irony, never more heavy-handed than a preacher’s admonition that 'a world without mans is a world without us all.' The plain narrative and relationship between boy and female man, rounded out with humor and occasional (sometimes literal) bite, promises to be a sleeper favorite among speculative audiences."
    --Publishers Weekly

    "Allen...throws caution to the wind with his bizarre but exquisitely composed fable that uses transhumanism as the prism to reflect on the nature of humanity...It's also intellectually curious and rather cutting in many of its conceptual and cultural assessments. It's a world where man is not only pet, but also meat, where religion, wars and empires are just as backward as they are in our own world, and where worlds collide with a temperamental angst that is as uncomfortable as it is alluring. Much like Pierre Boulle's 1963 novel Planet of the Apes, this novel is a sardonic parable on the nature and destiny of the species. A nimble fable whose bold narrative experiment is elevated by its near-biblical language and affectionate embrace of our inherent flaws."
    --Kirkus Reviews

    "An imaginative and honest epic, weaving together biblical stories, fantasy, poetry, and fairy tales with a touch of realism...Allen asks us to question the assumptions, -isms, and contradictions of the modern world...Recalling the humanitarian concerns of Octavia Butler's Fledgling and the poetry of Ovid's Metamorphosis, this book will appeal to readers of literary fiction and fantasy."
    --Library Journal

    "Imaginative, versatile, and daring Allen (Jesus Boy, 2010) raids the realms of myth and fairy tales in this topsy-turvy speculative fable....With canny improvisations on 'Jack and the Beanstalk,' the 'Epic of Gilgamesh,' and Alice in Wonderland, Allen sharpens our perceptions of class divides, racism, enslavement, and abrupt and devastating climate change to create a delectably adventurous, wily, funny, and wise cautionary parable."
    --Booklist

    "There's no doubt this is an original story and one you should read."
    --Book Sp(l)ot Reviews

    "From this point forward, readers consulting any reference work addressing the concept of tour de force will find there a citation of Preston L. Allen's Every Boy Should Have a Man. It is one thing to devise a fable dealing so adroitly with such concepts as racism, war, religion, and the very nature of civilization itself, but Preston's true triumph is the infusion of each page and every astonishing episode with palpable emotional resonance."
    --Les Standiford, author of Desperate Sons

    A riveting, poignant satire of societal ills with an added dose of fantasy, Every Boy Should Have a Man takes place in a post-human world where creatures called oafs keep humanlike "mans" as beloved pets. One day, a poor boy oaf brings home a man whom he hides under his bed in the hopes his parents won't find out.

    With echoes of Margaret Atwood and Jack and the Beanstalk, Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels and Octavia Butler's Kindred, this is a picaresque journey into uncharted territory in earth, sky, and firmament.

    Oafs and mans each gain insight and understanding into one another's worlds, and the worlds that touch theirsultimately showing that oafs and mans alike share a common "humanity." Filled with surprising twists and turns, the novel is in part a morality tale that takes on many of today's issues, including poverty, the environment, sexism, racism, war, and religion, all in lighthearted King James prose.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAkashic Books
    Release dateApr 19, 2013
    ISBN9781617751721
    Unavailable
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    Reviews for Every Boy Should Have a Man

    3.5/5

    24 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I liked this book, but I don't think it was meant for me. I suspect this is the sort of thing high school students (or 7th/8th grade students) should be made to read, as it would be a great source of discussion fodder on racism, animal rights, and what it means to be human. I care about all of these things, but I thought the storytelling was a little sloppy. I think it could be much better received by a more naive audience, and these are important topics, so I welcome any novel that attempts to address them. It's a very quick read, and the underlying themes are things that we ought to be talking about more.
    • 5/5
      This was an AMAZING book. I read it in a single day. In some ways, it was as if the author had tied together Gulliver's Travels with Jack and The Beanstalk. It had definite fairytale elements to it, almost a Brothers Grimm version of our world, with "mans" replacing pets. Obviously having echoes of our world, and our history, with slavery, cannibalism, but an absolutely masterful remaking of a fairy tale. There were no wrong notes.
    • 4/5
      I received this book as part of LibraryThing's "Early Reviewers" program. I absolutely loved it! It describes the plight of "mans" (normal humans) and their status as pets or slaves in the society of the Oafs (giants). The book discusses issues of class, the absurdity of war, and prejudice against races considered inferior to the "majority" race. The reader is told the story from the view of Oaf Society, so we don't realize until the end of the book, when the main character, Red Locks, tells her former master that all Mans talk, but not all speak the language of the Oafs, which Zloty (the former master of Red Locks) cannot fathom at all because Oafs have only one language. Every Boy Should Have A Man is a wonderfully written retold version of Jack and the Beanstalk with social commentary that is blatantly applied to our own world and society.
    • 5/5
      In Every Boy Should Have a Man, Preston L. Allen's prose plants a storyteller in your head, and all you have to do is pull up close to the fire, ignore the rustling in the darkness behind you, and listen as he paints the world from the point of view of the 'other'. And what a view it is. This folk-tale/fantasy/myth/cautionary tale opens doors and windows into parts of your conscience you probably forgot were there. This is the bedtime story you read to your grown children (or they read to you).What's it about? At once as familiar as that stuffed bear you slept with, and as strange as another planet, this tale cannot/should not be summarized. It must be read. I started it one evening, reading until sleep took over, then finished it the next day, and was left with a growing warmth in my chest - a mixture of contentedness and sadness, reading the Apocrypha that follows the main story for bits and pieces to keep it going.You must read this book. I know I'll return to it again (and again). I know I will be pushing it into the hands of my reading friends. Read this book. Os.
    • 3/5
      Giants, known as Oafs, rule the world and keep 'mans' for pets. The Oafs ruin their world through war, overpopulation, and misuse of resources. Man inherits the earth and the hope is that they treat it with more respect. A thinly veiled allegory about our current world situation. I agree with him, but don't think that this story illuminated any of the issues. It was very scattered and written in a simple prose that was inelegant and lacking. While reading, I couldn't decide if I liked it or not - I didn't.
    • 4/5
      Review based on ARC.As a start, the title is misleading. The book implies that every human boy should have a human man, but the book is, in fact, about every "oaf" boy having a human man (which is sometimes a human female man) as a pet. And I think that that statement is incomplete and unfair to the book as well.In 164 pages, Preston Allen manages to craft a story with depth, emotions, and morals. No words are wasted and no story line drags. Allen interweaves multi-generational stories and breaks off into almost-subplots, and he impressively gives the reader a real sense of the personality and the character of the individuals in the book.It is an almost everyman kind of story, that is simultaneously a fantasy and a serious, dramatic, "life lesson" kind of book. It is interesting and intriguing. It is almost, but not quite, preachy. It conveys a message firmly and intensely, but inoffensive and loving. You get the sense that the author has a great care for humans and their follies, earth and its weaknesses, and the interplay between the two. And yet it is a fantasy, in which giants have humans for pets. And even more, there is a twist.I cannot say more because at 164 pages, there is too much to ruin. But I greatly enjoyed reading this book (in one sitting), and I would recommend it to ... I think anyone I know. For me, while the book was indeed great, it wasn't a 5-star book that blew me away only because it wasn't. It was great. Impressive. Enjoyable. Enlightening. But it did not make me feel like squeezing the book because I was so pleased with it, and it did not make me insist that every single person I know read it. So a VERY strong Four out of 5 stars.
    • 2/5
      This is rather a hard book to review. Partly because it doesn't really fit into any category that I can name and partly because I'm not really sure how I felt about it. It is part fairy tale, part myth, part dystopian fiction and a few other parts too. It explores themes of slavery, cannibalism, war, environmentalism and other big issues. And it spans several generations. It does all this in a relatively short story. It does read quickly and it is interesting how it starts you in a world you don't recognize and works in pieces of a story every child knows. I do like how you are uncertain if this is the future of the human race or its past or happening right now. It is an interesting story and told in a deceptively simple tone so the impact of it kind of creeps up on you. But in a way that was also why I think I didn't connect with it very much. It is told like a fable. Names aren't used and although it follows particular characters they are more examples to make a point than they are individuals and left me with no one I could relate to. Which would have been fine in a fable of a couple of pages or so but in a novel left me feeling unconnected. A lot of the concepts and plotting are interesting but in the end it was more interesting than enjoyable to read.
    • 5/5
      The writing style of Every Boy Should Have a Man is simple and understated, yet the book packs a huge punch. Most prevalent is the theme of environmentalism, but others, such as religion, rear their heads as well. A few parts of the novel are unexpectedly emotional and tough to read. The story's blend of influences and themes make the book as a whole fascinating and thought-provoking.Sections of the novel in turn seemed to demonstrate influences from Gulliver's Travels, early science fiction/fantasy stories, the Bible, and folk tales. Most obvious, as anyone who reads this book will discover, is the homage to "Jack and the Beanstalk." The story becomes increasingly allegorical, which particularly appealed to me, a fan of satiric speculative fiction. Much of the novel was therefore reminiscent of 19th and early 20th century sci-fi, a trend which I would love to see continued in today's novels!This was a quick and engrossing read. In retrospect, the short length gave rise to some issues, namely that the plot seemed increasingly truncated and schizophrenic in its themes and style. It's just one of those books that some people absolutely love because of the same factors that cause others to hate it. The style and themes highly appealed to me, and I'm now considering which of my acquaintances I should force this onto next.
    • 5/5
      Every Boy Should Have a Man is a classic in the vein of Voltaire and Swift. A quick read in simple language, this account of a world where giants keep men as pets and for food has many implications on issues ranging from animal rights to racism to environmentalism. There is nothing else quite like this being written right now.This is one of those books that will appeal on many levels to multiple people. Both children and adults could get something out of this. In the first half of the book, I couldn't help thinking my dog would get a kick out of it! What is the relationship between ownership and companionship? Can loyalty be commanded? What is consent and what is bestiality? Some of those latter questions might not have relevance to our world, but then again they might or might in the past or future.I wouldn't strictly define Every Boy Should Have a Man as science fiction, but it definitely fits Darko Suvin's definition, of creating a world where estrangement breeds cognition for the reader. Also, though nominally less thought-provoking, the myths in the appendices should not be skipped. Strongly recommended-to everyone.
    • 4/5
      This one took me by surprise. Preston L. Allen would hardly be the first author out there to imagine a world in which humans are pets, but most authors wouldn't make nearly as much as he has out of that little conceit. I think that "Every Boy Should Have a Man" was advertised to me as a science fiction novel, but I'm not sure that that's quite accurate. This one deftly avoids categorization, since it also weaves in bits of fairy stories and the odd biblical trope. Nor is it just a PETA-friendly vegetarian analogy. If anything, it's an interrogation of the inconsistencies involved in being an omnivore: human flesh gets consumed here on a regular basis, but man-eaters are not always monstrous. Allen also seems to be asking what our pets -- beings that are enormously dear to us but that usually die well before we do -- mean to us, and, finally, what our awareness of language might contribute to our own humanity. If that seems like a lot to digest -- and I hope you'll forgive the pun -- that's because it is. Beyond its awful title, "Every Boy Should Have a Man" rises above its "How To Serve Man" brethren because it really is very well written. The author employs just enough linguistic innovation here -- "man" is used for all humans, and doesn't take an irregular plural -- to keep the reader from getting too comfortable, and the book's tone and language is marvelously consistent. He succeeds: both the brutality depicted in this novel and its basic weirdness never fail to leave an impression. There are also a couple of fun bonuses, like a couple of epilogues and some faux-epic poems which would register as tedious "world-building" in a less-effective novel but are pretty delightful in this context. I'd never heard of the author before picking this one up, but I feel like I've actually made a fine discovery here. Recommended to fans of speculative fiction, readers with an interest in fairy tales, or anyone, really, that doesn't think that a little bone-crunching gore should get in the way of appreciating a good novel.
    • 4/5
      Prepare yourself for a world in which boy "oafs" keep "mans" as pets, a world in which a lucky male or female man is allowed to actually live in the same house as their oaf owner, and in which unlucky mans are often consumed as part of a normal, everyday meal. Now you are ready for Preston Allen's Every Boy Should Have a Man. Adult oafs normally stand something over thirteen feet tall and even their children are soon taller than man-pets. Every oaf-year is the equivalent of four man-years so, over the course of a lifetime, an oaf is likely to have several mans as pets. Get the picture? Strangely, some mans can talk and some can play singing musical instruments. "Talking mans" and "musical mans,” however, are very valuable and are generally owned by only the very wealthy. The poor have to be content with ordinary, less talented, mans and their pets have to hope that they are not stolen to become part of someone’s dinner.Every Boy Should Have a Man is largely the story of two oaf boys, one wealthy and one poor, and the female man they share over the years. Their world is not a happy one. It is a world dominated by a small wealthy class that sometimes wages literal war against the poorer, desperate majority of the population. And, unfortunately for the domesticated man population, neither army is reluctant to use mans as cannon fodder.This little book (191 pages) is one that will, most obviously, make readers think about our relationship to our own pets, particularly dogs, but it also addresses numerous other issues. It is a well considered fable that touches on things like war, religious conflict, racism, global warming, and what it means to be "civilized" – all of it cloaked within a rousing adventure tale that fits comfortably into the fantasy genre.Bottom Line: Every Boy Should Have a Man is one of those books I still find myself thinking about several days after I finished reading it. I have even brought it up in conversation with friends whom I know are nonreaders because it is just so pertinent to today's world. The book is a little heavy-handed at times, particularly on the global warming issue, but it deserves a wide audience. Preston Allen has a winner.