Tag: Sean Murphy

Sean Murphy on Masculinity, Legacy, and the Cost of Manhood

‘This Kind of Man’ by Sean Murphy. Photo: Barnes & Noble

Book Review: This Kind of Man by Sean Murphy

A Stark Portrait of Modern Masculinity

This Kind of Man offers an unvarnished look at life in 21st-century America, unearthing the complicated, tender, and wild truth of what it is to be a man across generations and relationships. These stories dig into the pressures and tensions of contemporary life—and the ways men grapple with them, often unsuccessfully.

Themes include marriage, fatherhood, aggression, alcoholism, gender expectations, generational backlash, and the looming dread of mortality. Far from excusing toxic behavior, Murphy places it in the context of a culture that thrives on false narratives and pits overworked, underpaid people against each other in a zero-sum capitalist game.

A System Built on False Notions of Manhood

Murphy shows how traditional ideas of masculinity are deliberately instilled from the very beginning—ensuring compliance in a system where most are excluded from the start. These dysfunctions are passed down like an inheritance, with every cliché—from fighting and drinking to distrust and intolerance—acting as a carefully built trap that hinders solidarity, empathy, and self-love. (Barnes & Noble, 2025)

Standout Essays

  • The Letter My Father Never Wrote Me
  • No Tengo A Nadie – Chronicles the life of an undocumented man: “The choices he’s forced himself to make have given him the chance for a real life, but in return have robbed him of his youth. And, above all, he understands this: No tengo a nadie—I have no one.”
  • Now’s the Time –  The narrator is reminiscing about life while on his way to a life changing event. An eye-opening and unexpected point of view (inner dialogue) of a contentious person.
  • This Kind of Man
  • Our Vietnam

Review

Sean Murphy delivers an intense, intimate exploration of masculinity—burdened by history, shaped by family, softened by love, and often stumbling through misunderstood expectations. His writing is sharp yet lyrical, capable of both gut-punch realism and tender introspection: “No son truly grows up until he grows out of his old man’s shadow.”

The essays move fluidly across generations, tackling legacies, silences, and the quiet revolutions redefining strength. There are no easy answers—only an honest reckoning with vulnerability and the search for meaning in a disconnected world.

With emotional precision, Murphy captures fleeting moments of clarity, aching regret, and rare connection. This Kind of Man is raw, thoughtful, and beautifully written—a necessary addition to the ongoing conversation about masculinity and identity.

“All these people holding on for the one thing no one was guaranteed, no matter how often they went to church or how many people they managed, no matter how big their houses or small their waistline: time.”

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

*Thank you to Morgan Ryan/Mark Seferian for the gifted Advanced Reader Copy for review consideration. I have not received any compensation for this review and all views and opinions expressed are my own.

New book release: ‘This Kind of Man’ by Sean Murphy

‘This Kind of Man’ is the new short story collection by Sean Murphy. Photo: Amazon

Short story collections are literary treasures, offering a diverse tapestry of narratives within a compact form and offer a glimpse into the human experience. They invite readers to explore new perspectives and cultures within a single volume. Each story is a different universe and readers can enjoy them individually or binge through the collection, reveling in the variety of themes. There is a new short story collection out this month by Sean Murphy – “This Kind of Man.” So if you enjoy these types of books, here is some more information.

Sean Murphy is the Founding Director of 1455, a non-profit that celebrates storytelling. He has appeared on NPR’s “All Things Considered” and been quoted in USA Today, The New York Times, The Huffington Post, and AdAge. A long-time columnist for PopMatters, his work has also appeared in Salon, The Village Voice, Washington City Paper, The Good Men Project, Sequestrum, Blue Mountain Review, and others. His chapbook, “The Blackened Blues,” was published by Finishing Line Press in 2021. His second anthology of poems, “Rhapsodies in Blue” was published by Kelsay Books in 2023. He has been nominated four times for the Pushcart Prize, twice for Best of Net, and his book “Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone” was the winner of Memoir Magazine’s 2022 Memoir Prize. His new book “This Kind of Man” is his first collection of short fiction and offers an unvarnished look at life in 21st Century America, excavating the complicated, tender, wild truth of what it is to be a man across generations and relationships. (1455 Literary Arts, 2024)

“This Kind of Man” – These stories interrogate the pressures and tensions of contemporary life, and the ways men grapple with them, often without success. Issues such as marriage, fatherhood, aggression, alcoholism, gender expectations, generational backlash, and the inexorable dread of death, abound.

Many of these stories live within a slow implosion of coping, and often failing, as well as those who refuse to succumb, addressing concerns oft-discussed, or not discussed enough, in mainstream print: gun violence, the recent history of coal country Appalachia, sports-related concussions, illegal immigration (and the jobs many of these ostensibly unwelcome folks are obliged to do), homelessness, and the inability of men to honestly connect or communicate.

Far from excusing or exonerating toxic males, this collection locates their violence (toward others, against themselves) in the context of a deadening culture and the false narratives that prevail in an exploitative, zero-sum game capitalist model, where those without are encouraged to quarrel with similarly overworked and underpaid, mostly blue-collar workers. We see that our received notions of manhood and masculinity are inculcated-from the beginning and by design-to ensure willing participation in a system where the overwhelming majority are excluded from the start. We witness the way these dysfunctions are handed down like inheritance, and how every cliché, from fighting to drinking to intolerance of dissent and distrust of others, is a carefully constructed trap, preventing solidarity, empathy, and love (for others, for one’s self).