Raw, compassionate, and perceptive, Michael Swerdloff’s memoir RAISED BY WOLVES, POSSIBLY MONSTERS is a vital excavation of toxic masculinity’s rot—and an urgent call for individual and cultural transformation. ~Edward Sung for IndieReader


This is a story about a boy who wanted to be kind and loving but was raised by wolves and monsters who taught him to choose violence and aggression. As the boy grew to be a man, he wanted to be a protector of women but ended up being what girls and women needed protection from. He lied, cheated, and scammed his way through life until he couldn't.

This memoir is his moving account of discovering healthy masculinity from the inside out. His journey has been sensational at times and unbelievable at others, but for many readers, it has been absolutely inspiring. Will the hungry wolves outlast the desire to be loving and beautiful? Can men truly change?

There is hope in witnessing the depth and commitment of a person willing to try to be better without knowing exactly how. This memoir captures one man’s struggle to transcend his past and imagine an entirely new future for himself premised on compassion, care, and advocacy.

We do not have to be what they did to us, but it's our responsibility to do something about it.