What Do We Need Men For?: A Modest Proposal

A The Washington Post 50 notable works of nonfiction in 2019

"A work of comic genius." —Mary Norris, The New Yorker

“Darkly humorous and deadly serious.” –Sibbie O'Sullivan, Washington Post

“A compulsively interesting feminist memoir.” –Virginia Heffernan, Slate

"Somehow hilarious, in the way that only E. Jean could have written it" –Leigh Haber, Oprah Magazine


America's longest running advice columnist goes on the road to speak to women about hideous men and whether we need them.

When E. Jean Carroll—possibly the liveliest woman in the world and author of the “Ask E. Jean” advice column in Elle Magazine, realized that her eight million readers and question-writers all seemed to have one thing in common—problems caused by men—she hit the road. Crisscrossing the country with her blue-haired poodle, Lewis Carroll, E. Jean stopped in every town named after a woman between Eden, Vermont and Tallulah, Louisiana to ask women the crucial question: What Do We Need Men For?

E. Jean gave her rollicking road trip a sly, stylish turn when she deepened the story, creating a list called “The Most Hideous Men of My Life,” and began to reflect on her own sometimes very dark history with the opposite sex. What advice would she have given to her past selves—as Miss Cheerleader USA and Miss Indiana University? Or as the fearless journalist, television host, and eventual advice columnist she became? E. Jean intertwines the stories of the fascinating people she meets on her road trip with her “horrible history with the male sex” (including mafia bosses, media titans, boyfriends, husbands, a serial killer, and a president), creating a decidedly dark yet hopeful, hilarious, and thrilling narrative. Her answer to the question What Do We Need Men For? will shock men and delight women.