Iron John – Robert Bly
PLEASE OPEN AND READ THE FULL DESCRIPTION
Iron John: A Book About Men
For those that are interested in healthy masculinity. This is an opportunity to read books centered around self-improvement, being genuine, and authenticity, with a small group of like-minded individuals. In a setting that promotes a willingness to share each other’s progress.
Those that join this venture will be dedicated to set number of structured reading selections in the book(s) to be completed prior meetings, and show up ready and willing to discuss. Attendees will be responsible for obtaining a copy of the featured book. Use of audio books will not be discouraged in combination with a hard copy, however for the in-person discussions a hard copy will be most effective.
About The Book:
Robert Bly's "Iron John: A Book About Men" uses the Grimm fairy tale of Iron John as a framework to explore the crisis and development of masculinity, urging men to reconnect with their primal, "wild man" selves and embrace a more balanced and authentic masculinity.
Monday, May 12th, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Preface – Pages ix-xi
Chapter 1: THE PILLOW AND THE KEY – Pages 1-4
• Finding Iron John – Pages 4-7
• The Loss of the Golden Ball – Pages 7-13
• What Does the Boy Do? – Pages 13-14
• Going Off on the Wild Man’s Shoulders – Pages 14-22
• The Remote Father – Pages 22-28
• Audible - Chapters 1 thru 5
Chapter 2: When One Hair Turns Gold – Pages 29-30
• The Story: The First Day at the Pond – Pages 30-46
• The Story: The Second Day – Pages 46-51
• Audible - Chapters 6 thru 7
Monday, June 2nd, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Chapter 2: When One Hair Turns Gold
• The Story: The Story: The Third Day – Pages 51-56
• Going Out into the World – Pages 56-58
• Audible - Chapters 8
Chapter 3: The Road of Ashes, Descent, and Grief – Pages 59-60
• What Happens – Pages 60-66
• Naïveté – Pages 66-70
• Numbness – Pages 70-72
• The Story: Taking Kitchen Work – Pages 72-73
• Katabasis – Pages 73-82
• Taking the Road of Ashes – Pages 82-88
• Learning to Shudder – Pages 88-89
• Going from the Mother’s House to the Father’s House – Pages 89-95
• Audible – Chapters 9-13
Monday, June 9th, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Chapter 4: The Hunger for the King in a Time with No Father
• Disturbances in Sonhood – Pages 97-103
• The Darkened Father – Pages 103—107
• The Story: Visiting the King – Pages 107—111
• The King in His Three Realms – Pages 111-126
• The Male as a Set-Apart Being – Pages 126-130
• Audible - Chapters 14-17
Chapter 5: The Meeting with the God-Woman in the Garden
• The Maternal Feminine and the Private Feminine – Pages 131-132
• The Story: Meeting the King’s Daughter – Pages 132-135
• Entering the Garden – Pages 135-143
• The Woman with Golden Hair and Delicious Confusion – Pages 143-154
• Audible – Chapters 18-21
Monday, June 23rd, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Chapter 6: To Bring the Interior Warriors Back to Life – Page 155
• The Warriors Inside – Pages 155-158
• The Outer, or Disciplined, Warrior – Pages 158-161
• The Eternal, or Sacred, Warrior – Pages 161-166
• The Story: The Battle Scene – Pages 166-170
• Gaining a Four-Legged Horse – Pages 170-173
• Warriorhood in Teaching, in Literature, and in Science – Pages 173-175
• The Pelasgian Creation Myth – Pages 175-177
• Warriorhood in Marriage and Relationship – Pages 177-179
• Iron vs. Copper – Pages 179-182
• Sustaining the Tension Between Opposites Pages 182-185
• Living in the Opposites – Pages 185-186
• Admiring Paris’ Choice – Pages 186-190
• Audible - Chapters 22-26
Monday, July 14th, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Chapter 7: Riding the Red, the White, and the Black Horses – Pages 191-194
• An Overview of Classic Initiation – Pages 194-204
• The Story: Festival of Golden Apples – Pages 204-206
• The Golden Apples – Pages 206-213
• Riding the Red, the White, and the Black Horses – Pages 213-214
• The Great Mother Sequence – Pages 214-215
• The Alchemists’ Sequence – Pages 215-216
• The Masculine Sequence – Pages 216-222
• Audible - Chapters 26-30
Chapter 8: The Wound by the King’s Men – Page 223
• A Wound to the Genitals – Pages 223-224
• A Wound That Lames – Pages 224-226
• The Boar Wound That Kills Adonis – Pages 227-229
• The Boar Wound That No Longer Kills – Pages 229-232
• The Wound as Male Womb – Pages 232-234
• The Wound As a Man’s Commitment to the God of Grief – Pages 234-235
• The Story: Asking for the Bride – Pages 236-239
• The Wild Man and His Qualities – Pages 239-244
• The Community Inside the Psyche – Pages 244-248
• The Story: The Wedding Feast – Pages 248-256
• Audible – Chapters 31-35
Monday, July 28th, 2025 - 6:30 - 9PM
-Salt Lake City Main Library - Meeting room A
-Book Sections:
Epilogue: The Wild Man in Ancient Religion, Literature, and Folk Life
• The Hunting Era – Pages 257-259
• The Agricultural Era – Pages 259-262
• The Wild Man in Ancient Literature – Pages 262-263
• The Wild Man in the European Middle Ages – Pages 263-266
• The Threat of the Wild Man in Europe – Pages 266-269
• THE STORY OF IRON JOHN – Pages 270-276
• AFTERWORD TO THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION – Pages 278-280
• Audible - Chapters 36-39
Past Books:
• Getting to Zero - By: Jayson Gaddis
• Dopamine Nation – Dr. Anna Lembke
• The Big Stick - Dr. Robert Glover, Tony Endelman
• Never Spilt the Difference - Chris Voss
• Men’s Work - Connor Beaton
• The Way of Men - Jack Donovan
• King, Warrior, Magician, Lover - Robert Moore, Doug Gillette
