Arts-Entertainment
Author, radio host and podcaster Russell Rowland returns to Livingston’s Elk River Books to discuss his new memoir Be a Man: Raised in the Shadow of Cowboys, on Thursday, June 5, at 7 pm. A book signing and reception will follow.
Be a Man is told with a specific focus on what it means to grow up in the West as a male. Rowland, a fourth generation Montanan whose mother grew up on a cattle ranch, explores how his upbringing and those of his parents shaped their family in terms of how to approach emotional issues like death, alcoholism, domestic violence and general failure. He also explores how the media and the history of the West create a dynamic that is hard to escape when one absorbs certain mixed messages about what it means to be a man: how to treat women, how to deal with conflict and how to find your own way through a complicated world.
“In this fascinating and vulnerable book, Rowland tells us what it means to truly live in the West, laying bare all the myths and exploring the damage those myths have done, especially to boys and men,” writes May Jane Nealon, author of Beautiful Unbroken.
Rowland is the author of eight books including In Open Spaces and Fifty-Six Counties: A Montana Journey, which led to his Yellowstone Public Radio show of the same name. He is also the co-host, with poet Charles Finn, of the book discussion and interview podcast “Breakfast in Montana.” He holds an M.A. in creative writing from Boston University and lives in Billings.
For those who can’t attend in person, the event will live-stream at YouTube.com/ElkRiverBooks. For more information, send an email to info@elkriverbooks.com or call (406) 333-2330.