Edited by Nancy R. Newhouse
In this collection of essays from the New York Times' weekly "Hers" column, 41 female writers offer insights into women's feelings about relationships, issues, ideas and themselves. The subject matter of the essays varies as much as the voices of the authors. Many are humorous accounts of perennial feminist issues—"An over-40 feminist contemplates a facelift with the same ambivalence with which an environmentalist with bugs in his garden eyes a can of DDT," quips Mary-Lou Weisman. The topic of ambivalence springs up again and again, unifying introspective examinations of motherhood, abortion, marriage, divorce, sex, love, dependence, equality, success and death. Mary Cantwell's eloquent account of the mourning of a 20-year marriage is somehow akin to Laura Cunningham's funny, yet haunting piece about an absent father. Anees Jung paints a picture of isolation within her native India. Nell Irvin Painter conveys the impact African culture has on an American black. Lois Gould takes a hilarious look at the importance of hairstyles of feminists' daughters. Jane Adams examines male vulnerability from a fresh angle, while offering a shrewd analysis of what women really want: "Some of us...are getting more then we begged, pleaded or bargained for." This book serves as a source of reflection for women, a revelation for men. (Villard, $15.95)
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