Being a woman I feel like perhaps men would appreciate this book more. That being said I enjoyed reading the stories of different men of different walks of life and ages from 17-70. I won't lie they were at times irritating, some despicable, and well, just like any other human being. What I love about books like this, are how realistic and true they can be. I could think of people I know that could most likely relate to characters in this book. We're all flawed individuals, we have regrets, and we'd like to turn back time and change certain things. That's life.

I really enjoyed the different settings around Europe, where some cities I had visited myself I could picture well. While I did enjoy these individual stories, I think I would have enjoyed it more if somehow all of these characters were connected or their worlds combined in some way. The delivery kind of reminded me a bit of Joyce's Dubliners' with the separate stories, but in this case set in the same continent rather than city.

Lastly, the way women were represented was disappointing. It was unrealistic for all the characters to be so self-absorbed and use the women in their lives as an accessory.

I really enjoyed reading All That Man Is - it sucked me in throughout and kept me captivated. I think my only comment is that it would have been beneficial to experience more perspectives as some of the voices felt similar.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

This is a book that has sat for far too long on my 'to be read' pile. I'd seen this book all over the press, with my attention first being drawn to it when it was announced as a Booker Prize contender. In fact, perhaps that's one of the things that stopped me reading it for a while. Afterall, the Booker shortlist often contains some rather 'marmite' books - they are often thought-provoking, but I think they're often selected for their zeitgeist qualities rather than for being a gripping yarn. It turns out that 'All That Man Is' is another marmite book. What was different with this one, however, is that I really enjoyed some of the stories and yet found reading others to be rather like swimming through treacle. I don't think I've ever been so confused about whether or not I 'like' a book!

'All That Man Is' is a collection of 9 short stories of different men, at different stages of their life, all finding themselves away from home and in different European cities. I liked how the stories were arranged in age order, and how this implied that they could potentially be experienced by 'any' man at that stage. If I were male, however, this could be seen as rather patronising if interpreted that 'all' men are like this, or indeed that this is 'all' that they could ever be. All of the men seem to be in, or on the verge of, depression, with little hope for their futures. I got really frustrated by some of these men, and whilst rooting for others, all of their stories ended with them appearing somewhat pathetic.

I really wanted these stories to merge, to see how they would interact, but this didn't happen. I think that I'd tend to describe this more as an organised collection of short stories rather than a novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for this review copy, given in exchange for an honest review.

I work in a library and was given the task of creating a Booker Prize display. As I was displaying the books, I had a quick read through some of them and made a note of the ones that sounded interesting. All That Man Is was one of them. Based on the story of nine men, each of them living in different places, but far away from home. They are all different people, but all of them are looking to understand what it means to be alive.

I have to admit it’s not my normal genre, but every now and then I like to read a book which is out of my comfort zone. This would definitely be one of them. I found it to be well written, but it didn’t feel like one book, it was more of a collection of short stories. They were good stories individually, but I didn’t really enjoy reading them as much when it was one after the other. Nevertheless, it was definitely the writing of a Booker Prize shortlisted book and well worthy of it’s place. I was pleased I read it though!

"You learn to love what's there, not what's not there. How can you live, otherwise?"

Is it a novel or a loosely-connected collection of short stories? That was the main bone of contention when All That Man Is was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 2016. Whatever the classification of this worthy tome, I enjoyed it a great deal (much more than the actual winner, in fact).

Each of the nine stories portrays a man at a different stage in his life, from 17-year-old Simon, backpacking around Europe and still figuring out who he really is, to a retired government minister in his 70s looking back on his life and wondering how much time he has left. Other characters include a Hungarian bodyguard who is love with his boss's girlfriend, a muckraking tabloid editor who has skeletons in his own closet, and a Russian oligarch whose extravagant lifestyle is coming to an untimely end.

The men are all unhappy in their own way, with love and money being the chief reasons for concern. Each story finds the protagonist at a formative experience in his life - lonely, unsure and pondering his reason for existence. Some of them commit despicable acts, others live in pitiable circumstances, but the portraits are all genuine and unflinching in their honesty.

The subject matter is grim for the most part, but the stories are entirely compelling. Szalay writes with tremendous insight, and though the characters are flawed and not always likable, I became completely invested in their fates. My favourite was the tale of Bernard, a shy French boy in his early 20s who goes on a life-changing holiday to Cyprus. But there was something to admire in each of the stories. All in all, I was left hugely impressed by All That Man Is, a thoroughly engaging and intelligent depiction of modern masculinity.

I'm not the biggest fan of short stories but, after a slowish start, I couldn't put this down. It's an intelligent, thought-provoking exploration of the lives of men (or, at least, these men).

Manhood in novels. It seems to be the topic of choice for authors throughout the centuries.

During my MA English, I learned that the true first English novel, a story that was published and marketed in book form and didn't have an oral story tradition, is Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe in 1719. Others say the first English novel is The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan from 1678. Many people agree that the first Spanish novel is Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, which was published in parts, but can be originated back to 1605.

What is noticeable about these choices, besides the fact that it is hard to pinpoint the start of the novel or to trace a clear evolution, is not only their male authors, but the male narrators. Not only are they narrators, they also exist in the novel's title and their journey, physically, religiously and mentally, dominate the narrative of the novels.

This tradition didn't stop in the 18th century. This year I've been making a conscious effort to read more classic novels and have discovered how more prominent male authors/narrators are in literature. I've read Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Victor Hugo, Oscar Wilde, and many other authors that are not only men, but also centralise the male experience. Somehow the emotions of men are more valid in the world of classic literature. I know that Virginia Woolf exists (and is a wonderful author), that Mary Shelley started the genre of science fiction (which some people like to contest, but I'd refer to this great article as proof that really science fiction was invented by a woman). But overall, the male authors seem to outweigh the female ones.

In this climate, that is only slowly changing because of the rise of feminism and the path cleared by woman who impacted literature (J.K. Rowling for example), David Szalay wrote All That Man Is. To say I was curiously nervous about this book is an understatement. The title is brazen and clear: this is the story about men. I didn't want to read another homage to manhood, but I think manhood in this day and age is extremely complicated. I see men my age struggle with their place in the world and uncomfortable with how their fathers expect them to be and how liberated they could be. Feminism, often deemed as the devil, could help them embrace all aspects from themselves, but unfortunately, the idea of traditional manhood prevents some men from embracing the concept.

What is being a man? How are you a good man? When do you fail?

All That Man Is portrays manhood in its 21st century form with all those questions in the background. Instead of the romanticised men portrayed by F. Scott Fitzgerald or the world conquering brute men of Hemingway, David Szalay presents nine extremely different men with their beauty and faults. We start with a teenager and end the novel with an older man. All man are travelling, or are at least away from home and from the conventions of manhood they were raised to know.

Personally, I disliked all nine men. While they ranged in my dislike, all of them seemed entitled and made me roll my eyes at some point. They all mansplain. They all want sympathy for something. They all put up a front and push people out to seem cool. Halfway through this novel, I was annoyed and aggravated and I couldn't believe David Szalay wrote a book, a successful one too!, about men being entitled brats in different parts of Europe.

And then it clicked - in the last chapter. It's not like the last man in the novel was more sympathetic than the other ones. I just suddenly realised what David Szalay was trying to do with this novel. Though these characters are flawed, some seriously flawed, they are so incredibly realistic. The fact that I felt emotion for each of them shows the skill in the writing. The fact that I didn't like them just shows that, truthfully, I just don't like that many people.

The nine stories, though sometimes seeming incoherent, all have to do with time and growing up. These men all struggle with manhood in different ways and though I might find that struggle annoying at times, it is valid. I missed a voice of reason for these characters, but who has a voice of reason when you're travelling? In the end I could appreciate that David Szalay didn't become the voice of reason; didn't judge his characters for anything, but just let them be.

This novel shows the complexity of manhood in the 21st century beautifully. Was it perfect? No. As I mentioned, the nine stories sometimes seemed too detached to be in a novel together and honestly, I think nine short stories is also pushing it to get the point across that David Szalay wanted to get across. I read this book a few weeks ago and I must admit, I don't remember the name of a single male narrator. Not one. But that's also not the point. The point is their journey, and I do remember that. Their point is that they are real and you'll feel everything you can while reading this book. It is flawed, just like the characters are, and just like manhood is, but it is also thoroughly enjoyable and a fascinating look at our current world.

David Szalay writes beautifully as he sets out a series of situations which display the way modern European men are simultaneously threatened and enticed by the way the world has developed. The Hungarian bodyguard in London story was particularly engrossing. And the descriptions of sex in the Cyprus section were the funniest I have ever read.

Very much looking forward to his next book - he has the gift.

I couldn't believe this made the Booker shortlist! I read it when it was on the longlist and really didn't like it. Sold as an exploration of modern manhood I was intrigued, however all of Szalay's characters occupy a very specific niche. Almost all are white, almost all are wealthy, but the most frustrating thing is the overriding international nature of all the characters. Such a minority of people are comfortable in multiple countries and multilingual, so the book failed completely for me in it's stated aim. Not to mention that in no way is it a novel (not a problem for me, but surely the Booker?) Mostly my issue was that I found it super boring. However, almost unanimously all of the male colleagues and customers I have discussed this with have loved it, so perhaps it is achieving something my woman's experience can't see....

This is a very interesting book that feels extremely contemporary.

Written as nine stories from nine points of view, it has been criticised for not being a novel, rather a collection of short stories. However, the themes of identity, masculinity and belonging transcend all of the tales and the author manages to bring them together in a strong, coherent narrative.

A collection of stories about men being men, and yet at the same time something that also manages to feel like a coherent novel. Each tale draws you in and sometimes drags you down too. The writing is both engaging and realistic and It is easy to see why it made the Booker shortlist.. Well worth seeking out.

This is a really interesting and, at times, absorbing read, although I was rather disappointed in the format, which was more like a collection of short scenarios with different characters and seemed designed to disrupt rather than continuously engage the reader. Such is the quality of the writing, however, that I was constantly drawn into the characters' lives even in such short snapshots, and I was regularly frustrated not to be allowed further aquaintance with many of them. I look forward to reading more from this author, but only if it he writes a more rounded, joined-up novel which lets the reader become involved in a fully developed plot.

Whether this is a novel or a collection of thematically linked short stories is, to me, irrelevant as it is such a satisfying read overall. The cumulative effect of these sometimes dark and disturbing, sometimes comic stories is very powerful. Each story is about a different man, some of whom are deeply horrible. Do not stop halfway through this book, as, at that point, the reader may feel that David Szalay feels that "All That Man Is" is a hopeless creature. Continue to the end, and the commonality and between these disparate men grows and becomes part of a fascinating and humane whole.