Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills focuses on life experiences of thirty five men – those ordinary brothers, husbands, neighbors, and fathers that we see everyday.

Generated somewhat on the premise of a coffee table book despite its small size; Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills, is an intriguing look at men; created by a wife, daughter and mother of sons. We all hear of and rarely know those men whose names appear on the nightly news, or magazine covers.

Millions of lesser known men, those who are not on the covers of magazines, or theirs names on the evening news receive no recognition at all. Motivated by a desire to showcase commonplace men from varied circumstances as positive role models; Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills, has been a labor of love for author Nancy Bruno.

Bruno provides a peek into the lives of men ages twelve to ninety-one, has written their stories carefully and accompanied each narrative with photographs to present a volume that achieves what Bruno meant for the work to do.

Cultures have always and continue in large part to determine men by accumulated wealth be it cows or horses or coin, their courage, and skill at feats of strength. Little has changed, modern mothers encourage their daughters to look for a man who drives an expensive car, has a good job and will protect her and the children mom hopes will ensue.

Fairly or not; Men are often evaluated as successful or not in modern times by the size of their bank account, by their jobs - doctors rate higher on that unspoken scale than does the sanitation worker; by how fancy their automobile is, and often, as thought it were permanent or important, men are rated on outward appearances.

Potent role models, cannot be defined so much by -stuff- or physical perfection which at best is fleeting, rather role models are those who demonstrate through life experiences and the manner in which they face harrowing situations and come out having learned from the situation. Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills depicts the quintessence of what it truly means to be a man of indisputable strength and real moral fiber.

Christopher, the twelve year old is shown playing soccer, jumping into the pool and we read about him and his dedication to his team, his responsibility in caring for his dog and school.

A young man studying for his SATs, a single dad, a middle child, a Vietnamese émigré, and a Hispanic religious leader, a determine paraplegic are all pictured and each has a story to tell. Mitch is a businessman, a husband and a dad, Bryant and Rob, and Walt all epitomize family. There are men who have dabbled in drugs, or used alcohol to ease pain, and men who were raised in single parent homes, there are men who are musicians and handymen, and those who are all thumbs. Four elders round out the work.

Ninety one year old Gino was a poor student due in large part to poor eyesight, he caddied, drove ambulance for CCC, married and was dad to a son, built a golf course and when his son died has established a golf scholarship, and he has earned his High School diploma at eighty, has been a fixture at Siena College for decades where he and his wife serve surrogate parents to athletes, coaches, faculty and staff.

Many of the stories leave the reader feeling there is more to the story, and that is as it should be, we do not need the whole story of each person, each of us deserves some things left private.

As a daughter, wife and the mother of sons, I especially enjoyed Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills happy to recommend.

NOTE: Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills review copy was received from a publicist
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Reviewed by Molly’s Reviews
molly martin
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Product Details and Shipping Information from Amazon

Product Details
Genuine Men: Journeys in Stories and Stills
Author Nancy Bruno

Hardcover: 105 pages
• Publisher: Bridgeway Books (May 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934454273
• ISBN-13: 978-1934454275
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 8.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.8 ounces
$14.78 In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

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Note: from her website we learn As Nancy Bruno completed work on her first book, Beautiful Women, her oldest son insisted that she also write one for boys. Realizing that there were few books that told the life stories of everyday role models, she decided it was time to write about Genuine Men.
Award-winning documentary photographer Nancy Bruno uses black and white 35mm photography to capture the triumphs and tragedies of everyday life. She uses her ability to become "invisible" to her subjects as her means of examining and photographing humanity. She lives and works in upstate New York with her husband and two sons.


Recommended: Yes