The Metrosexual Guide to Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man

Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2003. First Edition. Fine. For those who avoid the style pages, the newly minted term "metrosexual" re fers to a man with a sense of fashion and a taste for culture, who loves to shop and look good, and may be of ambiguous sexual orientation. According to journalist Mark Simpson, the metrosexual "might be officially gay, strai ght or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly take n himself as his own love object." Metrosexual wannabes who need some style pointers will find their questions answered in Flocker's handy manual. Lik e an extended episode of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, the guide gives re aders a crash course on music, film, art, home decorating, dating, fitness and grooming at the same time that it teaches them an updated version of Em ily Post manners. All the while, the author, a sometime actor and sometime features editor for AOL Time Warner, dispenses his advice with the playful tone of a witty, club-hopping mentor. "Every man can benefit from a little self-improvement," he writes in his introduction. "Just as you regularly up grade your computer, your car and, hopefully, your underwear drawer, you ca n upgrade yourself to become a player in the new era of the metrosexual man ." Though Flocker's suggestions are occasionally too dogmatic-he advises re aders to always drink imported beer, for example-this guide is a timely cap italization on the recent news articles about metrosexuals, and it approach es its material with thoroughness, warm humor and, yes, style.