“Coming of Age in Macholand is a poignant ode to the possibility of another way to live and love, beyond the violence and cruelty of patriarchal authority. Gill writes with courage and conviction, weaving a gripping personal story together with keenly observed social and political history. The narrative is sometimes harrowing, often charming, and deeply moving, living out the ethos of vulnerability and tenderness that it recommends.”

Anand Pandian, author of Ayya's Accounts and Something Between Us

“With verve, intimacy, and insight, Gill takes us on a tour of ‘macholand’, a globalized Punjabi landscape of arranged marriages, patriarchal family, and caste-bound kinship. Written from the vantage of those who can’t or won’t perform scripted manhood properly, this book invites us to rethink closeness and kinship and to remake social worlds.”

Roger Lancaster, author of The Struggle to Be Gay—in Mexico, for Example and Life in Hard

“Blending autoethnography and feminist and queer inquiry, Gill navigates the complex terrain of Indian patriarchy with rigor, insight, and empathy. This powerful book asks what it means to survive and come of age—for both the ethnographer and their subjects—amid migrations, separations, social fracture, and the shifting realities of life in postcolonial, neoliberal India.”

Inderpal Grewal, emeritus, Yale University

“In this bold, provocative, and eloquently written book, Gill skillfully combines personal history with extensive ethnographic research to map the sprawling, pernicious reach of patriarchy. Coming of Age in Macholand provides a compelling—and often harrowing—look at the cultural, societal and sexual attitudes that govern life in present-day (Indian) Punjab.”

Manil Suri, author of The Death of Vishnu and A Room in Bombay

"Anecdotal storytelling meets incisive analysis. By writing about male machismo, still an almost forbidden subject in Panjab, Harjant Gill creates a space for empathy, understanding, and reflection. This is a book that must be read, and even more, reflected upon.”

Amandeep Sandhu, author of PANJAB: Journeys Through Fault Lines