Reviewed by: Secrets of Men in a Lifeboat by Todd R. Baker Amanda Zastrow Todd R. Baker. Secrets of Men in a Lifeboat. Aqueous Books, 2016. Todd R. Baker's didactic premiere novel Secrets of Men in a Lifeboat follows father and failed businessman Luke Morrow as his life seems to continually fall through the cracks despite his many attempts to the contrary. Once married and following his dream of creating and managing his own company, thoughtful and kind-hearted Luke, currently divorced and down on his luck financially, finds himself lying to friends and family to keep up the appearance of stability. As the text clearly draws attention to the adverse effects of toxic masculinity, Baker's present tense prose works to address this failing of current society as Luke's unsuccessful ventures leave him continually plagued with feelings of inadequacy due to his inability to meet his former wife's standards and to provide, as a man should, for his family. While Luke does find immense joy in his close relationship with his son, Trevor, this small glimpse of happiness is largely overshadowed by the novel's bleak tone, a resonance that pervades throughout the tale despite readers' chance to see Luke in an alternative life, in which he is, as the novel's back cover states, a "rich but brutal man." Through a unique critique of male gender issues and through a realistic, though depressing, commentary on human life, Baker's novel addresses society's consumptive connotation of success while suggesting to readers the necessity of redefining what it means to "have everything." While feminist texts documenting the historical oppression of women by the dominant patriarchal society have become fairly commonplace, Luke's interactions with his ex-wife, Lisa, work to narrate the lesser-told pains of toxic masculinity that such [End Page 16] a society has bestowed on its men. Though Luke's actions consistently paint him as a great father, it is his ex-wife's fixation with his monetary failures that constantly haunt his dreams even years after his divorce. This realistic motif of society's preoccupation with money is depicted early in the novel as Luke is "exquisitely happy" upon falling asleep with Trevor in his arms; however, moments later, his dreams are afflicted with visions of his ex-wife: "'What kind of man are you, starting a business off of my back?' Luke lowers his head in shame. 'Don't you understand? The man I want to make love to is powerful.'" And later, Dream Lisa accuses him again, '"You didn't take care of me. [….] You gambled your career, and your ship didn't come in."' While perhaps problematically placing blame for a patriarchal problem on his novel's females, Baker's story addresses the unfair amount of responsibility that falls on men in current society. Luke is consistently faulted for wanting to take a chance and to follow his dreams, and while it is clear that he is as an all-around good guy, one who goes out of his way to assist persons with disabilities, one who recycles, and one who always puts his son first, Luke's lack of income and prestige is the theme that drives not only his own self-esteem but the way that he is perceived by others as well. As if forever ruined by the collapse of his starter company, Luke, representative of today's everyman, measures his success not by his relationship with his son but by the $14,000 he has saved in his bank account. Through a twist not unlike Dickens's A Christmas Carol, Baker's assessment of society's definition of success continues as Luke, once poor, becomes ridiculously and monumentally wealthy. Inventor to a new and wanted idea, Luke's life path is completely reversed as, rather than failing to get off the ground, his new company skyrockets to a status that competes with companies such as Google and Amazon. Not surprisingly, however, Luke is not able to transfer his previous life's joys into his new existence of financial success. While before, toxic masculinity affected his self-esteem and endowed him with an unwelcome pressure to...