Joker to King: Developing a Healthy Masculinity
Brown & Gray Publications, 2nd edition published 2021 (1st edition published in 2016)
(Click the book cover image above to purchase Joker to King.)
Amazon bestseller and grand prize winner of
the Southern California Book Festival (November 2016).
There are many books to READ on masculinity and manhood, but Joker to King is the only book you'll actually USE week after week. The 52 lessons in Joker to King are organized according to the 52 playing cards in a deck, allowing young men to journey into manhood within a full 52-week calendar year. In each chapter, you get an explanation of the lesson, a story exemplifying the lesson, and an assignment to actually put the lesson into practice. By the time you finish the entire book, you'll understand how to better manage your relationships, manage your resources, manage your environments, and manage yourself.
NOTES ON THE SECOND EDITION
In 2016, the first edition of Joker to King was a huge success, earning the grand prize at the Southern California Book Festival (November 2016). Many young guys used the book to develop themselves as they transitioned into adulthood.
Since the first edition, Dr. Brown went through his own life transitions including divorce, new job, new home, and new marriage. In addition to these new life changes, much of the book was revised with a greater focus on mental health using more inclusive language. Some chapters were removed, while new chapters were added, including chapters on antisexism and men's relationship to violence.
REVIEWS
This book will definitely challenge you as a person. Each chapter has a story and then an assignment or task to complete. I have been reading one chapter per week. I love that it takes 5-10mins to read a chapter. There are so many self help books that have shortcuts or you finish them in a week and then you are somehow supposed to be a better person. This book doesn't have any shortcuts. This book is for hard workers. If you TRULY want to become a better person and you are willing to work at it, then you will get a great deal of pleasure out of reading this book.
--Joe A.
Redlands, California
I have two boys, 17 and 19. My oldest is a little lost and trying to find his path. This book is perfect! I have been searching for a book like this for years now...literally since my oldest reached his teen years. My sister has bought me book after book and none have given me and my boys such clarity as this one. I have seen their minds open to the possibility of being a whole person, and the kind of man that my husband and I have been trying to instill in them since they were little.
--Lisa L.
Austin, Texas
From the concept to the set up to the application, it is both refreshingly innovative and timeless in its wisdom. Wish I had enough influence to make the guys I know all read it, but that's sorta the whole point of being a king isn't it--to do things not because someone forced you to but because you know you need to always keep bettering yourself. So if you are a young(ish) man wondering how and when you are ever going to grow up already, please read this, and then tell another guy to read it.
--Kimberly V.
Cumberland Center, Maine