I admit it's been a while since I read this book. On the other hand, I found it so pivotal I have given it to friends and gone out to buy more copies, one of which I am starting to reread now. This book is funny and it is sad. Most of all, I found it realistic and affirmative.

I am a relatively conservative person, so I found some parts of the book a little over-the-top, but the underlying affirmative message is one we shouldn't ignore. I encountered the book just as I was dipping my toes into graduate school at the age of 50+. I had lived a fulfilling life as stay-at-home wife and mother and had run my own home-based business for years. I never intended to go back to school, but it seemed like the right thing to do at the time and with my husband's blessings and my children's encouragement, off I went in a totally new direction. Somehow I felt this book gave me permission to go for it.

Red Hot Mammas is about attitude as much as anything else. I loved its feisty attitude and I took that into the classroom where I discovered that not only could I hold my own, but that I had greater perspective than so many younger students. And the best part was that I wasn't crippled by their social and future-oriented worries. I already had a husband, children, fulfilling work. I was there not to get a mate or a job or a "future", but because I genuinely wanted to learn. I was doing what I WANTED.

To make a long story short, I lost my husband tragically during my two years in grad school. I have since gone on to a high tech consultancy job (about as far removed from my former life as you can imagine). I now live alone, with complete freedom, fully invested in my two somewhat grown children as well as my career and completely happy with everything except the loss of my husband.

My younger sister visited me last weekend, suffering burnout from family and work responsibilities. My message to her was, "Relax - we can do anything anything we want." That's Colleen Dowling's message really. It's very empowering. Check it out. And don't forget your sense of humor.

Years ago I read Dowling's The Cinderella Complex and found I shared many of her views on being female in the 70's. Red Hot Mamas carries us onto the Middle Years for emancipated women.

Much of it was interesting - this book isn't information about menopause only (thank goodness - sometimes an evolving woman needs a break), but is about female aging in America.

From the squeeze caused by needs of children and parents (middle squeeze), to the realizations that we are no longer fertile, svelte and young, Red Hot Mamas offers positive looks at the major changes in the Fifty Something woman's life. She does offer a lot of information on Hormone Replacement Therapy, giving women food for thought. She also addresses the changes in our relationships with our partners, financial independence and our generation's waning interest in marriage - not entirely because fewer men are available. Although the author is a feminist, it is clear she is NOT a separatist, but she strongly supports older women who are more often finding it possible to have relationships with men based on the needs of both.

This book is certainly not for everyone - traditionalist will no doubt find this book, and probably this review, not helpful to them. The rest of us will find this a nice read for women going through menopause and feeling down. It offers offers positive stories of what other women have done with their lives. Would be a terrific group discussion read, but also is good as a stand-alone book.

Read it and smile.

I am 47, and this book has confirmed my strange feeling that that the 50's will be outstanding! Once we make peace with the wrinkles, bags & sags, we can truly leave behind all the emotional constraints of our first half-century. We can finally move beyond our frenzied and frustrating lives to realize the dreams we had at age 12. What, quit the corporate rat race & become a dancer? Yes! Let our hair turn gray, don long flowered skirts and start a greenhouse? Yes, these and even more "bizarre" pursuits! Collette Dowling shows us how the brick walls defining our lives can be dismantled to reveal the paths of our dreams. I for one can hardly wait for menopause!! This is more than just a breezy book about life transitions. This book opens the spy glass onto the real opportunities of mid-life and presents the complexities of 50ish women as gifts rather than curses. Please write more and more, Ms. Dowling!

I'm not sure how much I enjoyed this book. On the one hand, Claudine was a hilarious little hoity-toity miss, running her school as much as the teachers ever could. The characters are great fun and there are some very amusing moments, but sometimes the distinct lack of a plot shines through and you feel bored to tears, but of course compelled to keep going. Definitely the best of the Claudine books though, after she leaves school everything completely dries up.

This semi-autobiographical book starred an absolutely adorable fearless adolescent girl who thinks herself very sophistocated & worldy in all matters. Colette's perceptions about adults from a child's perspective are frank, canny and hilarious. The first and best of the Claudine novels, though all of them are quite good.

This book will get you started with phrases and proved a real survivor manual for me while traveling through France. The key to learning French is to try and speak it. I found this book helpful and encouraging...

For the past four years, I have used this book as a "textbook" for teaching beginning French conversation to elementary students in our schools. The book pairs easy-to-learn phrases with simple pictures--and does not go too deep into French grammar, which is perfect for my teaching methods. The book encourages the joy of "speaking" rather than conjugating verbs, and should not be purchased by those who need (or want) to enhance their grammar skills. But for "speaking conversational phrases" it's perfect...and the appendix, with its simplified vocabulary, is great. My husband, who knows NO French except what he "learned" from this book, survives in France very well when we take young students to Paris on a "field trip." This book is a very good way to begin learning the complicated French language.

Cheri tells a story of the end of a six years affair between a middle-age woman, Lea, and a young man, Cheri. The funny thing is that stereotypes are turned upside-down, it is Cheri who wears silk pyjamas and Lea's pearls. He is the object of gaze and Lea gives him lessons in love. But Cheri marries a young woman looking for her money and Lea is emotionally destroyed. The story continues in The Last Of Cheri, written six years later, which contrasts Lea's strength and Cheri's fragility. The two books recount the rise and fall of a spoiled, capricious and handsome man, who already as a child was called "petit chef-d'oeuvre" by the American ladies. The end is perhaps the punishment to passionate love, a feeling which seems to be condemned for the author as well.

Claudine is in school and has good friends and boy friends that she often talks to and refers to in this book. She has as many problems as she does good events. She goes through her life as a journey and these four stories (claudine at school, claudine in Paris, and Annie and Claudine) she describes it in a college reading level but anyone who isn't is still able to understand it and get the gist.

I've read most of the Colette biographies. (Five have appeared in the past twenty years). This one is filled with new information about Colette's African ancestors and her social philosophy. This biography will remain authoritative long after others have faded, because it is narrated in a clear, chronological way that avoids dated (pop) psychology. Rather than presenting a reporter's collage of what others have written, Francis and Gontier have created a fresh, original work that you will savor and admire.

I thought this book was very sad hearing about the starvation and sickness in Ireland during the famine. Mary Anne is a very real character. It must have been awful seeing your best friends dying from hunger. I think it was so unfair that the government gave away the food to other countries when the people of Ireland were starving . The coffin ships were a way out but you had a big risk of dying on the ships of fever or the ship not making it to port. When Mary-Ann arrived in America she was surprised how there was so many rich people while there was people in the slums. I thought the wages back then for all the work that mary-anne did was little. When Mary-anne met Tim I thought it was very romantic{kind-of} well I thought she truly loved sean Thornton. At the ball it evidently showed that Sean felt the same . When he said 'I would rather to be escorting Mary-Anne. But I thought mary-Anne was happy with Tim in the end.

The cakes in this book are beautiful, but are meant to be created by professionals. There are too many non-edible items that need to be removed from the cake before serving. Impractical.

Hmmmm, what can I say. The pictures were fabulous, but the wedding cakes would be extremely difficult to cut and serve. However, you can use a few ideas I suppose. For me, this was too far out to be practical for the home wedding cake baker -- only those who have a lot of time on their hands and nothing better to do than play. I cannot see an average couple wanting a wedding cake like these. Sorry.

The cakes in this book are absolutely beautiful, but a bit more decorative than most people will want. Further, they were personalized for the weddings for which they were made. I do recommend this book as a great starting place; it is inspiring, and it includes a lot of good tips and techniques. And for the couple who wants a really over the top cake, this just might be your book.

Depending on what your looking for, this book is either an inspirational documentary of woman's achievements in the sports arena or just a collection of feminist cheerleading.
As a student of the controversial "women in the military" argument, I was looking for something to add to my knowledge base. I had hoped for a more analytical approach to the idea of women's athletic ability and less of "hear me roar" rhetoric.
Like Goldberg's "Bias" it is short on research and long on anectdotes. While undeniably a "good read", I had to look at her work with jaundiced eye after too many anti-male put downs and incorrect information. Mz Dowling never lets the facts get in the way of her position. Phrases like "fortunately not all husbands squelch their wives' athletic ambitions." (I suppose most do???) add to her air of bias.
She all but refuses any suggestion that biology has an impact on the athletic abilty and strength potential of woman, apparently laying the blame at the feet of males and our apparent societal dominance. To even criticize the WNBA is seen as misogynist. Later, her implication that there has ever been a female Green Beret is pure fabrication.
In chapter 7 we find the potential source for her passion (and ire?): her run-ins with various men throughout her life which scared or intimidated her. How much these events inspired her adult profession, we can't say, but it is clear the taint of them are felt in the general tone of the piece.
Although I didn't find what I was looking for in her book and she needs to work on her academics, I'm sure many folks will find a good deal praiseworthy, though I caution them to take much of the stories with a grain of salt

as a long-time student of the second wave of feminist activism, I found this book absolultely fascinating, and I don't even like sports! Dowling writes clearly and persuasively for a general audience. This book is useful for anyone seeking to understand how women's status has changed in the united states over the 20th century.

This was an very interesting book. I picked it up after several discussions with my boyfriend as to whether or not men gain muscle faster than women. This book did talk about the muscle issue, but what was truely interesting were discussions on how society still discourages female participation in sports, tries to differentiate between male and female sports by changing the rules just a little in the women's half of the sport, and the pressure that still exists on female athletes to be girly and feminine.

This book is also incredibly well written. It flows well and is rather difficult to put down.

I highly recommend this book.

I unintentionally stumbled upon this book in a bookstore in 1996 while trying to conceive my first child. I was not having fertility problems but before reading this book was going on information from my OB/GYN about how to achieve pregnancy regarding timing of relations and the "window of opportunity" for conception. I figured I'd read the book for the heck of it to see if there was something useful in it that went above and beyond the information my doctor already provided me with.

I was happy to find a very easy to read format and very understandable information. I was surprised to find different information regarding timing of relations with ovulation than my own doctor had given me. Specifically I learned that if I followed my doctor's method, conception would be far less likely to take place (according to the author/doctor) than if I followed the information recommended in his book. I learned the details of the fertility cycle and specific information about using (the inexpensive) ovulation predictor kits to help narrow down the fertility "window". At the time, I thought it humorous to read of intentional gender selection. I learned that gender selection does have a scientific reason and factors under the control of the woman and man can determine the gender of the baby. I did have a thought that a certain gender as a firstborn would be nice. I decided to follow the instructions in the book exactly and see if I'd conceive a certain gender. With the use of (the least expensive) ovulation predictor kits from the drug store I was happy to achieve pregnancy on the first month of following these directions. Additionally I ended conceiving a baby of my "choice" of gender, after following the instructions for that gender.

Women talk to each other about pregnancy and infertility; it is a natural thing between women, especially between pregnant women and women who are already mothers. As my friends and co-workers would tell me of their infertility problems or mention they want to begin trying, I explained that this book helped me, and I recommended that they read this book and educate themselves rather than just follow what their OB/GYN or Infertility specialist said to do. (I did not and am not recommending to ignore a doctor's advice, but to supplement it with self-knowledge obtained by reading this book.) Eleven women that I lent my book to ended up pregnant after reading this book and following the directions regarding timing, understanding their fertility cycle, and general nutritional recommendations. (I was so surprised at the success rate that I kept track of the numbers.) The women undergoing infertility treatment and procedures told me this book recommended more frequent intercourse than their own doctors did. The women who wanted a certain gender followed those instructions and every one of them conceived the gender they tried for. The women who didn't have a gender preference achieved pregnancy with a "surprise" gender and were happy.

What bothered me about the book was the detailed information about miscarriage and infertility treatments. Since I was not officially considered infertile I didn't have an interest in this and found those sections scary. I chose stop reading those chapters because at that point I was not considered medially "infertile". Instead I concentrated on the lifestyle recommendations that were definitely under my control such as nutrition, what to avoid eating or being exposed to, fertility cycle information, and conception and gender selection tips. My point is that this book is helpful even if you have not yet officially begun trying to conceive and is still helpful if you are not officially deemed "infertile".

Knowledge is power. I feel that every person should educate themselves about issues they are concerned with. Even if you are seeking the advice of a doctor or even an infertility specialist, I recommend you educate yourself about the topic. This is a very good book about achieving pregnancy, read it! Don't just rely on experts, become informed yourself. The price of this book is so much lower than expensive ovulation predictor kits and ovulation predictor computer programs. Rather than immediately think there is something wrong with your body, read this book first and see if you really are setting yourself up for success. Before rushing off to get a consult with an infertility specialist read this and make sure you have been "doing things right". If you have already been diagnosed with an infertility problem, then you definitely should read this and educate yourself, as it will help you have meaningful discussions and more able to make informed choices when talking with your infertility specialist.

This book is a great source for helping couples understand infertility and the factors that affect it. This book covers so many things to look at if you want to conceive or are having trouble conceiving - from diet, hormones, acidity, sperm levels, genetics, physical issues, etc. Basically, the point of this book is that there is no such thing as infertility - just something you might not have tried before. It presents a wide variety of research of various topics relating to infertility, so that you can judge for yourself if any might apply to you. Did you know that soybean and peas are being researched as natural birth control methods? So you might want to avoid those 2 things if you're having trouble getting pregnant. This book doesn't claim to have all the answers, it just presents a lot of information that will help anyone who wants to have a baby understand all the factors that can play a part. It must work because I got pregnant just a couple of months after reading this book and I was told by my Dr. that I would have a hard time getting pregnant!!

This is a wonderful well-written and informative book. I bought this book almost 5 years ago and read it cover to cover. When we decided it was time for our second child I went through the book, tried all of the techniques and got pregnant on the very first try! We were also lucky enough to be blessed with the girl we were trying for. Now we have two beautiful children, a boy and a girl. Not only do I recommend this book highly; I give it out as gifts to friends who are trying to conceive. I know there are a few reviews listed here that do not agree so, I suggest you get this book and see for yourself and I am sure will not be disappointed.