A01=David Algar
Author_David Algar
Category=DNC
Category=JBCC1
Category=JBSF2
Category=VFJQ
changing body
emotional wellbeing
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_health-lifestyle
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
essays on aging
family life
fatherhood
forthcoming
grief and memory
health and aging
humour
later life reflections
life transitions
loss of parents
loss of purpose
marriage and relationships
masculinity and aging
meaning and purpose
memoir
men and society
mental health
middle-aged men
reflective nonfiction
retirement and identity
self-discovery
travel reflections
Product details
- ISBN 9781917000178
- Dimensions: 129 x 198mm
- Publication Date: 24 Jul 2026
- Publisher: Constellations Press
- Publication City/Country: GB
- Product Form: Paperback
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David Algar, author of Man Trouble, shines a very particular light on some of the major adjustments required of men as they move from their glory days to their golden years. What happens to identity with the loss of the camaraderie and prestige of the workplace? In an age of bewildering technology and social media, how do men connect with their sense of purpose and each other?
Written with his characteristically affectionate sense of humour, this is a celebration of a life still very much in the making – full of spirit and resilience. Algar highlights the gentle satisfaction of doing things not perfectly, but personally. There are plans, half-plans, and happily abandoned plans; there are arduous adventures that take in the length of Britain alongside ill-fated journeys to the chemist; there are meditations on the minutiae of life as well as some of the more serious issues that threaten to undermine men’s well-being. The mix is a kind of lucky dip: sincere man-talk for the man on the street, which opens up a space for vulnerability, alongside hilarious accounts of small mishaps that turn into great stories.
Full of warmth, wit and a good dose of British charm, this is a great accompaniment for any journey – where every essay prompts a new insight or resolution… or at least justifies a well-earned pint with your mates.
David Algar likes to describe himself as ‘a late-middle-aged, middle-class itinerant’. His first degree, from Aberystwyth University, was in Economics and International Relations; forty years later, he is completing a second with the Open University, majoring in Psychology and Politics. His wandering life enabled a long-term career in industry, carefully changing jobs in the nick of time to avoid being found out.
Along the way, he has managed to pick up a wife, two kids and five chickens, three bikes and a couple of kayaks, all of which he has gathered together to form a home in a small village in Buckinghamshire. Writing came late in life, fuelled by the curiosity brought on by being continually on the move, and the desire to understand how to live though the chaos in the world, how to be a good person and how men can be immensely silly along the way.
If not writing, or staring into the middle distance, David is happiest travelling, playing sport or just being badly behaved with friends.
