Tough Guys, Bad Dudes, and Other Men My Father Knew
A Farewell to My Old Man and to Old School Masculinity
by Lonnie Ray Atkinson
How does one break with generational misconceptions of what it means to be a man without losing all that was worth being learned? How do you come to terms with the severity of the damage while still holding onto the memory of the loved one who passed it to you?
Tough Guys, Bad Dudes, and Other Men My Father Knew juxtaposes old school stories of bar brawlers, shit talkers, and all manner of Southern macho motherfucker alongside intimate reflections on authority, alcoholism, and abuse.
For readers who recognize a piece of their own father/father figure in these stories and know firsthand the struggle of trying to be better than just “a little better,” consider these pages a testimony to the permission we rarely grant ourselves when attempting to say a proper goodbye.
Author
Lonnie Ray Atkinson:
A writer born in East Nashville (back when that shit meant something), Lonnie Ray Atkinson has learned one thing about the work. Assholes strive to be clever; writers strive to be authentic.
In addition to Tough Guys, Bad Dudes, And Other Men My Father Knew, he is the author of A Good Kid and His Ghosts. “There are books you want to write and books you need to write. These two are the ones I needed to write.”
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