Tracing the influence of masculinity on fictional form and theme through an era of dizzying social change, this timely new book conducts a close analysis of English novels selected for contrasting definitions of the male gender, from the allegedly Angry Young Men to the contemporary confessions of Nick Hornby. The literary period since 1950 is interpreted as one of intense political and stylistic negotiation by male authors with the gendered subject-positions both of fictional characters and those who read about them.