Bold Book Discussions: The Red Pill

Just In Time for Valentine's Day

Although I have been a longtime fan of the writer Blake Nelson, somehow I missed the 2019 publication of his novel The Red Pill, perhaps because it doesn’t appear to have garnered any professional reviews. It did inspire at least one protest, which I missed hearing about as well. I only found out about the book recently through stumbling upon a karolinpublic podcast episode with Nelson.

In several of his prior novels, Nelson demonstrated an uncanny ability to write from a female point of view, but in The Red Pill, the protagonist is male. Set in early 2016, the novel follows the dating travails of a divorced, early-forties, Portland-based advertising exec named Martin.

Left-leaning Martin feels somewhat superior to his non-college-educated brother-in-law, Rob, a Trump-supporting father of three and successful head foreman at a construction company, but he begrudgingly begins to accept some of Rob’s dating advice after one too many disheartening dates with women he met online. Rob provides him with a few innocuous tips derived from popular pick-up artists and refers him to the “manosphere,” where the term “red-pilled” refers to realizing the truth about women’s dating preferences. When Martin expresses alarm at some of the genuinely racist and anti-Semitic posts and comments he comes across there, Rob advises him to just ignore the offensive material.

Martin is also struck by the popularity of Trump amongst the manosphere crowd. Admittedly as taken aback by Trump’s 2016 victory as the majority of the characters in the book, I posted to Facebook friends on election day, “ARGH. I feared all those Red Pill men would crawl out of their basements and vote.” During that time period, “manosphere” types struck me as particularly obnoxious and aggressive in the comments sections of online articles.

Because Nelson is a subtle and gifted writer, he is able to present Martin’s journey in a complex way. Bewildered, Martin reflects upon the advice and opinions of Rob and the manosphere, noting where they seem bigoted, sexist, nonsensical, or simplistic, while recognizing that there is a sense of freedom to the manosphere and that some of the advice improves his dating game. He alternates between employing “pickup artist” tactics and rejecting them and between feelings of resentment and shame. At the same time, he grows weary of what he feels is a growing censoriousness and an overreaction to Trump’s victory amongst the majority of his friends and acquaintances. All this before things start to get really messy for the characters in the book.

The Red Pill offers a nuanced take on a pivotal year that saw the beginnings of a hardening cultural and cultural divide and the seeds of both #MeToo and trad wives.

To promote viewpoint diversity, Heterodoxy in the Stacks invites constructive dissent and disagreement in the form of guest posts. While articles published on Heterodoxy in the Stacks are not peer- or editorially-reviewed, all posts and comments must model the HxA Way. Content is attributed to the individual contributor(s).

To submit an article for Heterodoxy in the Stacks, submit the Heterodoxy in the Stacks Guest Submission form in the format of a Microsoft Word document, PDF, or a Google Doc. Unless otherwise requested, posts will include the author’s name and the commenting feature will be on. We understand that sharing diverse viewpoints can be risky, both professionally and personally, so anonymous and pseudonymous posts are allowed.

Thank you for joining the conversation!

Top Image: Erik von Markovik.jpg/ Wikimedia Commons