Politixia
The Manosphere doesn’t want disillusioned young men to know that, unlike Patreon subscriptions, a library card is free.
Ever since podcasting became the quickest path to financial success for a middling male comic, the comedy world has been unusually interested in the social, psychological and physiological dimensions of manhood. Joe Rogan and Andrew Schulz both swear by testosterone replacement therapy and peddle such pharmaceutical male enhancements on their respective shows, and the “male loneliness epidemic” is a constant topic of discussion throughout the conservative comedy sphere.
For a troubling number of young and young-in-reading-level men, the right-wing comedy podcasting space is a haven for the isolated and depressed to find a quick, subscription-based fix to their problems. Thankfully, a real comedian has an alternative for male humor fans in search of community: Anthony Jeselnik is the head of a growing online book club, and he has become so involved in the literature world that The Los Angeles Times just published a profile of him, calling Jeselnik “the internet’s newest literary tastemaker.”
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In his talk with LA Times, Jeselnik explained how he became an avid fiction reader after seeking therapeutic help for his struggles with isolation and insomnia. “If you wake up, read a book,” his therapist told him. “Find ways to be productive in your loneliness.”
Over the years, Jeselnik’s appetite for literature has refined his taste, but in his book club, he ensures that his selections are accessible to anyone who is just getting into the habit of literacy. “My goal was to curate and give people their best shot at enjoying reading,” said Jeselnik, “People will say, ‘Oh, I don’t like reading books.’ You’re choosing the wrong books.”
Jeselnik has his favorites – the late Didion, for instance, is “the best writer of all time” in his opinion, as demonstrated by her proximity to his heart – but he makes sure to offer his followers a diverse selection of readable and reasonably sized novels. Few books run longer than 300 pages, and he regularly picks from popular genres like crime fiction and sci-fi.
“I’m trying to make reading cool again,” Jeselnik said of his curation. “Reading is a solitary act in the way that stand-up comedy is a solitary art form.”
Specifically, Jeselnik sees a need for male-focused literature discussion in social media spaces where other popular male comics can barely get through an ad read for DraftKings. “There are so few books for guys that are literary,” Jeselnik lamented, “There’s a lot of John Grisham and Jack Reacher, but there’s not something literary that a guy can sink his teeth into.”
“It helps with the masculinity crisis in that reading is masculine. It is a masculine thing to do,” the comic opined, “The Hemingways of the world were out there. It used to be a badass thing to be a writer, and a brave thing to put your thoughts onto the page and publish them.” Nowadays, the most badass thing that most male comedians do on a weekly basis is drink Black Rifle Coffee on camera while complaining about transgender volleyball players.
But Jeselnik isn’t like those Schulz types whom he regularly criticizes for their constant whining about conservative culture war topics. While Jeselnik does occasionally dabble in the podcast space, creating a community of intellectually engaged men is a better fit for his talents, given how he actually has some. Said Jeselnik, “In terms of how I do things and my approach to stand-up, instead of doing a podcast, having a book club seems like a natural extension of that.”
The comments section under Jeselnik’s book club videos show that he’s gaining ground in his fight to make reading manlier and cooler than podcasting. “The best YouTube book club is run by a comedian,” the top commenter declared under Jeselnik’s video about John Edward Williams’ 1965 novel Stoner.
“Jeselnik has tattoos, a dog, and a book club. My mind is blown right now,” another viewer wrote.
“You would make a killer college teacher,” one more fan added, “You remind me so much of several of my professors that I look back on very fondly. As always, love the book club videos.”
Every new post sparks intense discussion and debate over that month’s pick, but the truly profound part of Jeselnik’s book club is how it brings out emotions that men on the internet rarely express with any degree of eloquence. In that same comment section, you can find men sharing their personal stories about how the novel helped them process the passing of a loved one. Men talk about how certain passages make them. Sometimes even Jeselnik sheds a tear.
With his book club, Jeselnik is organically creating a community of comedy fans who push each other to grow intellectually and emotionally, which is unheard-of in the modern era of dude comics on social media. While it’s hard to imagine that book clubs will ever overtake podcasts as preferred side-hustle-turned-day-job for middle-aged male stand-ups, Jeselnik is proving that comedians don’t need to appeal to the lowest common denominator to find their following, and these modern content platforms can actually be used for good instead of solely for profit.
But sadly, I don’t expect too many other male comics to abandon podcasts for book clubs – it’s pretty hard to score a six-figure sponsorship deal with Alpha Brain when your audience will actually read the ingredients list.
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