Men Are Reading Less Fiction. That’s A Problem. | Steven Pressfield
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Why does Ryan argue men should read more historical fiction?
Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, designed to help bring those four key Stoic virtues, courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom into the real world. Hey, it's Ryan. Welcome to another episode of the Daily Soap Podcast. I'm about to hop on a plane. I guess the car should be here in about 25 minutes. And I'm reading this novel, this bit of historical fiction. I don't want to say what it is yet, because I don't know if I like it enough yet. But I do love reading historical fiction. I love it. And one of my all-time favorite writers of historical fiction, probably one of the first great bits of historical fiction I read, and I'm nothing against the Westerns that I read as a kid or whatever, was Steven Pressfield's The Gates of Fire.
In fact, I have the last page of the original manuscript signed on my wall, one of my prized possessions. And I think I love that book because, look, there's things that we talk about, but what fiction does is it shows you, right? That book is honor and courage and shame and sacrifice, loyalty, betrayal, greatness, what it means to keep your word, what it means to fail, what it means to care about something, what it means to be committed to something, what it means to be the kind of person that other people can count on. Look, I think all of us need to watch less news, maybe even listen to fewer podcasts and read more, right? And we need to read more fiction, myself included. I'm not lecturing you, I'm lecturing myself here.
Because a good novel puts you inside of a life, puts you inside of a time, a place. It makes abstract virtues feel real. And you can show the consequences of choice. You can show struggle in a way that a lecture or a list or even one of my books never could. And I think Steven Pressfield understands this as well as just about anyone. He's one of my writing heroes, not just his novels, Gates of Fire, A Man at Arms, Tides of War, The Virtues of War. He has this great new one called The Arcadian. And these are books that I think They're really popular with the military, but with people in all walks of life because they talk about some of that old-fashioned stuff. And Steven Pressfield was out here in Texas recently, and we sat down and we talked about why we should read more novels, especially young men, what fiction can teach us, and why sometimes stories are a better way of carrying the truth than facts alone.
He's got an incredible story. I love his nonfiction, too, Turning Pro, Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Be, The War of Art, The Warrior Ethos. All this stuff is great. He signed copies of many, many, many of them, which you can grab at the Painted Porch. Steve doesn't just talk about these things. He's lived in a fascinating life.
What made Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire so influential to readers?
He was in the Marines. He's worked 21 different jobs in 11 states before he got his first novel published. He taught school. He drove tractor trailers. He worked in advertising. He was a screenwriter. He worked on offshore oil rigs, picked fruit. He's just a lovely guy, one of our greats. And if you haven't read him, maybe start with the new one, The Arcadian. or the classic, The War of Art and Gates of Fire. You can follow him on Instagram, Stephen underscore Pressfield. Go to stephenpressfield.com and read more. Have the men in your life read more. It'll make you better.
We're traveling internationally this summer. And some of those places like in Europe, you know, you can't just go dress like you're slobby American. You got to dress up a little bit. Can't show their shoulders. Can't wear shorts. So I'm going to take some of the stuff I bought from Quince because it holds up well, looks good. It's fancy without being uncomfortable. I'm going to try to pack clothes that are light. airy and comfortable. I can use them in multiple settings. You've certainly seen me in some of these things. If you've ever watched the Daily Stoke video or seen me talk live, I want something that looks good on stage that I'm not going to sweat through. It's not going to get super wrinkled. Quince has got great t-shirts.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
Why does Ryan argue men should read more historical fiction?
0:00–2:38
2
What made Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire so influential to readers?
2:38–6:12
3
How can fiction make abstract virtues like honor and courage feel real?
6:12–9:56
4
What is Steven Pressfield's background and how did it shape his writing?
9:56–19:06
5
Why are fewer young men reading the kind of masculine fiction of past generations?
19:06–20:30
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from The Daily Stoic
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