How come there isn't a male version of chick lit?

[LAS14]

I can think of a good name for it. But, unless westerns qualify, I don't think there is literature that just men read, like there is literature that just women read. Am I wrong? If not, how come?

[paleotn]

1. There is....

It's called Tom Clancey.

[LAS14]

9. Women read Tom Clancy. Like me. And there's no "male" category name.

[LisaM]

2. Spy novels.

That and Westerns and the constant stream of military history books (as if there is no other type of history).

[LAS14]

10. Women read spy novels. Like me. And there's no "male" category name.

Yeah, westerns. But you don't see shelves of westerns at the library. And why isn't it called "d..ck" lit?

[LisaM]

13. Ha!

I'm not for or against spy novels (not my taste) but when I see guys reading on the bus, that is generally what they are reading.

[TygrBright]

3. Let's start a "Y Read" list, then...

(Because 'chick' and 'lit' are already taken.)

Mickey Spillane
Louis L'Amour
Raymond Carver
Ernest Hemingway
Philip Roth
James M. Cain
Jim Harrison
Norman Mailer
Elmore Leonard
Patrick O'Brian
Charles Bukowski
Joseph Conrad
John LeCarre'
James Elroy
Dashiell Hammett
Larry McMurtry
Mario Puzo

...damn, I gotta go make dinner.

Someone else take over. Start with "All those old farts who wrote the Bible" and work you way up to, say, Dickens?

helpfully,
Bright

[Zorro]

5. Raymond Carver or Raymond Chandler?

Ross MacDonald (Lew Archer)
John D. MacDonald (Travis McGee)

[TygrBright]

6. Both! n/t

[LAS14]

11. I read a lot of those and will check out the unfamiliar ones. Thanks! nt

[LisaM]

14. I wouldn't put Raymond Carvee on that list.

Same with Bukowski and Conrad. But O agree with the rest of them!

[Mountain Mule]

4. Sure there is!

What could be more chick lit than Playboy?

[LAS14]

12. Well, there you go. nt

[uriel1972]

7. Science fiction and Fantasy has it's share...

of Male empowerment fantasies... more than it's fair share

[Anon-C]

18. +1

[akraven]

8. Try anything by Hemingway.

He was an asshole but a great writer.

[JI7]

15. I think religious end times tyoe stuff is mostly read by males

[Major Nikon]

21. The book of Revelation is in the bible

There’s no shortage of women who subscribe to that nonsense. Michelle Bachmann was one.

[eppur_se_muova]

16. It's written on the walls of bathroom stalls. nt

[jmowreader]

17. It's called porn.

What you do not realize: There has been research that proved women can get off sexually by the written word, and men need pictures. So...chick lit is Porn for Women, and porn is Porn for Men.

[Anon-C]

19. It was women buying Penthouse Letters?

[LAS14]

20. Thanks! You are so smart! nt

[Major Nikon]

22. Actually women watch porn in pretty significant numbers

It’s even more significant in places where there’s less of a stigma against them doing so and while the gap is still quite large, it’s been narrowing over the years. The stratification has more to do with societal expectations.