You couldn't find a more ridiculous premise than the one espoused by this book. Oh! Now we know -- women's biological lack of strength and muscle mass has been a vast masculine-wing conspiracy all this time. She writes of females breaking in to traditionally male sports like football, etc. Her observations are skewed and the conclusions drawn are so ludicrous that it doesn't really require any argument to refute them.

Tell me, does anyone really believe any of this? That men and women are the same - or even similar, physically? That's what I thought.

Don't buy this book. If you can locate a copy, browse through it while you stand - about thirty seconds worth - and you will have had all that you want.

I am not a fan of Dowling's other books. This one, is a resarch book that is easily read like a novel, while providing important, empowering facts and data on the way males and females develop. Dowling talks about how from an early age, even in our times, girls are still taught it is not "feminine" or attractive to boys or others to be muscular or athletic. She talks about how boys are taken by the majority of theri fathers and taught how to throw a ball, and train their muscles, and engage in rough housing, where girls are not and so "throw like a girl." Boys and girls bodies are similar but as girls starve themselves, and do not use their muscles, their ability to develop larger muscles over all diminishes as they get older. We see female athletes who want to look like covergirls and some who are beautiful and atheltic, and those who really just want to be professional athletes. This book overall shows how women hold themselves back from achieving their true potential starting at an early age, and examines how the image a woman has of herself by thinking a certain kind of beauty is most important keeps a woman from being independant in this way. Dowling also points out that if you take a 5'7" woman who works out and a man of the same height who does not, and one who does, the results are very interesting. She points out that women are often compared to male athletes not in their weight range. While Women and men may not be biologically equal in every area, that should not keep us from being equals as humans. Dowling also talks about how athletes need to work with their menstrual cycles. Also, with the studies done now, we know that women have always been treated tradtionally nutritionally and physically by doctors as if they were skinny men with mood swings. Now we know we have different nutritional requirements, and while during our cycle, we are constantly preparing for a child, wether we want to have one or not, and men do not. When these needs are all met healthily instead of denying ourselves to fit into a body type that does not fit us, we will all have more energy for strength training. There is so much information packed into this book, and it is such a fast read, I recommend it to all women, and especially those who have daughters to see a new way of strengthening them. I find it hilarious that some still question women's strength and dexterity after reading this book.

In "The Frailty Myth," Colette Dowling presents a compelling and well-researched analysis of why and how American girls are socialized to be "weak." Dowling examines the myths about the "weaker sex," tracing this myth as a source of the oppression of women handed down to us from Victorian times.

She convincingly explains why men fear strong women: In part, she says, it's because strength is perhaps the only area in which our culture does not say that men and women are equal. Thus, as male-only professions and traits are rapidly disappearing from public discourse, strength is masculinity's last hope.

Further, she carefully details how the media, parents, educators and peers of both sexes encourage girls to be passive and boys to be active (often without realizing it), and gives ample evidence that there is no physiological basis for the belief that women are fated to be weaker than men. It is, in essence, a mere self-fulfilling prophecy.

After demonstrating the mental and physical unhealthiness of this cycle, the author provides advice on breaking out of it. To illustrate the possibilities, she offers inspiring stories of women and girls who have become strong, breaking into "male" sports like football and even playing on co-ed teams.

This book is well-written, well-organized, and an important read for anyone with a daughter or an interest in women's issues. At the very least, it might encourage you to spend more time at the gym -- that's one of the many beneficial things it did for me!

The photographs by John Bigelow Taylor are wonderful, but this book has a paucity of explanatory text. I don't just like to look at pretty pictures. I want to know about the jewelry. Who made it? How was it made? Who wears it? How is it worn? Why was it worn? What is the human history behind it? I particularly want to know all this about ethnic jewelry. You won't get it here.

No people are shown wearing the jewelry, so the book is sterile. There is no cultural context. It's a lot to pay for no additional knowledge about ethnic jewelry.

This is, indeed, a very beautifully photographed book. The represented pieces are all exquisite.

Though, it's true that there could have been more background information provided, giving the book a rating of one star, as the first reviewer did, is grossly unjust - an act of spite rather than of informed criticism. Clearly, the book was never meant to be a exhaustive examination of all the ethnological aspects of each piece (though there is ample annotation); such a book would have run to 2000 pages rather than 250! So the Splendor of Ethnic Jewelry is not a doctoral thesis but rather a stroll thru a museum; in this case, the Ghysels Collection. A coffee-table book if you want, but beautiful none the less and of the highest standard.

If you have previously had no interest in ethnic jewelry per se, this book will open your eyes to the extraordinary artistry of these ornaments created by the world's non-industrial peoples. Each object in itself says much more than an accompanying treatise ever could, and I cannot imagine anyone coming away from this book without a desire to learn more.

A second copy purchased for a friend who deals in ethnic jewelry was very much appreciated.

This is a HUGE book filled with georgeous close-ups of really inspirational jewelry. A favorite of mine!

This book feels like a young adult book that doesn't quite make it. No one in my book club liked it. Hayden has some interesting ideas but she skips around--never finishing what she's started.

Debbie Gunther had a dreadful childhood. When her mother died in childbirth, her father blamed her and would not take her to raise her. Debbie was raised for eight years by her grandmother, who let her know on a daily basis that she was not wanted there. So, at the age of eight, her grandmother got in touch with her father and told him to take Debbie, or she would have him brought up on abandonment charges. Debbie's father took her but he treated her badly the whole time that he had her.

After a choir teacher of Debbie's told her how much she looks like a famous Las Vegas singer named Colette, Debbie learns everything she can about Colette and becomes an impersonator for the stage. Debbie is hired at the Crystal Palace Casino--the very place that Colette was working and where she was murdered.

Debbie is apprehensive from the very beginning. She receives a note, which she tries to ignore, but the very dress that Colette is murdered in arrives for her and then roses arrive for Debbie--all yellow with one red rose in the middle, the same exact bouquet that Colette was given on stage just before she was shot. Debbie believes that the only one she can confide in is Dan Springer, a young reporter who is supposed to do a story on Debbie. Dan Springer has his own conflicts to deal with. There is a strong attraction between Dan and Debbie, but Dan is determined not to fall for Debbie. Debbie's problem is wondering if she can trust Dan to find out who wants her dead before it is too late.

This a top notch suspense story filled with a lot of fast-paced action along with more twists and turns than you have ever seen and an ending that is truly a surprise for the reader. The characters are real, and they all have their own agendas. The characters of Dan and Debbie are written with such rich details they feel like true friends to the reader. This book is set with Las Vegas as the background. L.C. Hayden has done it again. First there was "Who's Susan" and now "When Colette Died." I can hardly wait for her next book to come out.

When Colette Died by L C Hayden

Debbie Gunther is in Las Vegas for her big break into the world of show business impersonating the Las Vegas singing star Colette who was murdered five years previously.

From the opening sentence it is clear that Debbie is being stalked and is surrounded by enemies. The fear is palpable and the reader is immediately catapulted into a world of distrust.

Smiling ambitious Jack Armstrong with the position of Casino General Manager in his sights. Her director Bill Davis who doesn't attempt to hide his animosity towards Debbie. Motherly Annie and the Casino owner, the legendary Ms Elizabeth. All have there own agenda. Beset by animosity on all sides Debbie is attracted by a reporter Dan Springer who initially seems to care, but does he?

As the murderer of Colette was caught, why is Debbie receiving threats against her life. Could this be related to her own difficult past? Who is the mysterious Boss.

Set against the glitzy background of the Las Vegas casino, this book is full of greed, family anguish and murder, and holds the reader to the end. If you relish suspense, this book is for you.

Lizzie Hayes 30 January 2000

Yes the concept of the book, a Victorian novel of a young girl married to a much older man, an unscrupulous publisher no less, led me to dish out the big bucks and buy this book ....

If they said this book was steamy, it certainly was, but, the steam came from me in having to read this mush. I think they should have announced this book as ANTI VICTORIAN literature since sensuality is hinted at but never touched. Thats why I rate this book with one star since you can't have serious relationships and marriage between people that are decades appart in age without some sort of spice. The fact that the man in the book is a scumbucket is even more reason to delvelop this as a reality...

Well yes theres the word .. reality .. which is what this book does not have.

"Experiences of a young girl growing to maturity" is what the covers says ... what it should say is that this is so boring and meant for readers that think watching grass grow is exciting!

I would give this 2.5 stars, were this an option.

First, I should say that this book was an incredibly breezy read; in spite of its over 500 pages, I read it in three days. It's brainless, easy, and more of a "beach read" than a classic.

Admittedly, I am not a fan of "beach reads."

Frankly, I don't understand how this book came to be a classic. I can only figure that Colette's later books, combined with her acting career and essays, made her a classic historical figure, which, in turn, made this book a "classic." On its own, the book is a silly lark. The characters and situations are completely unrealistic, their relationships seem forced, and the hand of Colette's husband, who pushed her to write these books and published them under his name, is painfully evident. Scenes of homosexuality are strained and feel slotted in to drive up the "raciness" of the text, and therefore it's saleability.

I'm glad I read this, if only to know more about the author and to say that I know her work. Would I recommend it? No. Was it a painful read? No. It just wasn't of classic or even literary caliber.

For novels a century old, the first thing that will take the reader by surprise is just how modern the narrator's voice is. Yes, the setting is in stuffy late Victoriana, with trips to Bayreuth and carriages and endless dinner parties, but sweet Claudine, who tells three of the four tales in this compliation, is aware, hilarious, darling and fiercely, fiercely intelligent.

The first novel is perhaps the best -- Claudine a l'ecole -- while the latter ones occasionally lag, esp. the rather dull "Claudine en menage." "Claudine s'en va" (Claudine and Annie) is a strange experiment, with the narrator we've grown to love over three novels suddenly turned into supporting character, but it's quick and entertaining.

And these books are wonderfully decadent. Let the conservatives wail about how debased our times have become, and then read these products of 1900-1903, with their frank journeys into lesbian sex, adultery, drug use -- and view the rather jaundiced way the characters approach such sacred cows as religion and marriage.

Also, this compliation is not complete, as it is missing "La retraite sentimentale", the final Claudine installment.

Collette would get even better, but this is a fine starting point.

Considered one of Colette's best novels, "Chéri" is the story of a love affair between a young man and an older woman. Fred, known affectionately as Chéri, has been the lover of Léa (a friend of his mother's) for a number of years. Chéri is a pampered and narcissistic young man and is more than willing to let Léa care for his every whim. Neither is willing to admit the depth of their feelings, but after Chéri marries a girl his age, the two find themselves awkwardly getting through their lives. Almost a year after their parting, the pair meet again and the only future possible becomes clear. "Chéri" eloquently shows the love between the pair, without shying away from the nuances of their reality (the differences in age, the tight and complex social circles). "Chéri" is #39 of the 100 Best Gay and Lesbian Novels.

Cheri is a novel about a young Frenchman whose mistress, an older woman, indulges him and instructs him in the arts of love and life until he marries. Cheri is remarkably child-like right up to the eve of his marriage and beyond. After the marriage to a suitably aged young woman, he longs for his old mistress's pampering, her familiar apartments, and the life they shared there.

I found the book a wonderful story and a rich, redolent escape from the realities of our modern world. It takes the reader back to a time just before WWI, when life moved a bit slower. The way Colette writes, slips the reader into a place easily imaginable; comfortable as one's own sofa.

This is a two-volume biography, and this review covers both volumes.

I believe the authors' purpose in _Creating Colette_ is at least partly to show how Colette carefully crafted her own image, and (unlike some biographers) to describe the "real" Colette. Colette was brought up in the country, but by a very unconventional and hardly provincial mother, who had moved in intellectual circles prior to her first marriage. Colette married the celebrated journalist "Willy" and joined Paris's bohemian inner circle. Its colorful members indulged in flashy costumes; unconventional behavior; the creation of avant-garde literature, music, and art; wild parties; drink; drugs; copious sex with members of both genders; and general "decadence." Colette and Willy were deeply in love for many years, and he nurtured her as a writer--only later did they quarrel, divorce, and begin to damage each others' public images. When Colette married her second husband, the politician Henry de Jouvenal, she began to clean up her image, suppressing information about herself and asking her friends to comply. In old age, she finalized her image to that of the warm, earthy, frank Colette described by other biographers from Colette's own writings.

However, I did not finish this biography with any strong sense of Colette as a personality, but rather with an accumulation of many fragmentary and at times contradictory details. This is partly because of the sheer quantity of facts given about Colette's enormous number of acquaintances. Most of her acquaintances were colorful and the authors seem determined to provide all colorful anecdotes, whether particularly relevant to Colette or not. Though this gives some idea of the social atmosphere she moved in, particularly during her first marriage, it obscures information about Colette herself. I seldom knew what her relationship was to any of these people--which person was a lover, which a friend, which a professional associate, which a casual acquaintance. Aside from there being too much peripheral information, it is not well edited. The authors assume by causal references that the reader already has background information about all these people that I, in fact, often did not have. People are mentioned and then introduced to the reader as if for the first time several chapters later.

Although some extremely interesting facts are revealed, the authors fail to analyze them or draw conclusions. For example, they feel Colette's illness early in her marriage was syphilis because it was treated by a leading syphilis specialist with his standard "cure," hot baths. But this information is then dropped, with no indication of what effect the disease had on her many subsequent sexual partners or her health in later life. (...) Colette disliked and neglected her daughter, letting other people bring her up. Yet this, her one pregnancy, occurred soon before she married Henry de Jouvenal, which she very much wanted to do. Why did she get pregnant--perhaps to engineer the marriage? The authors fail to discuss this. The authors describe how Colette's mother, during her last year of life and ill with breast cancer, wrote frequent,...letters begging Colette to visit her--which Colette refused to do, being too absorbed in a new romance. But I gained no sense as to whether there was any reason for this other than Colette's self-centeredness. The authors describe early on how favorable reviews of Colette's books and her performances as an actress were engineered by pressuring friends to write them, even Willy writing them under one of his pen names. Yet later in the book--which becomes a paean to Colette's success and acclaim, however achieved--the authors accept reviews of her work at face value.

This could have been an excellent biography if it had managed to clearly describe and separate the different images of Colette as publicity (first the bohemian, then the Earth mother), Colette as a writer, and Colette as a person. And if it had a stronger novelistic sense--who is a main character in this story (aside from Colette) and who is not? What is the plot (as opposed to a collection of anecdotes and quotes)? Unfortunately, it does neither. But people interested in a partial debunking of Colette's oft-repeated images as an exploited young bride and later, an Earth mother will find it worth reading.

I read this literary biography in just a few days, testament to its engrossing information. The book paints a parade of colorful personalities in Belle Epoche France. Colette's story is the tale of "Gigi" before and after. Her development was influenced by her talented parents: Sido, a mother with strong opinions that included freedom for her children and scorn for ritual--Catholicism, Father Christmas, and the constraints of bourgeois marriage; and Jules Colette, the extroverted and literary father who trained 8-year-old Gabri (Colette) to make speeches for him on the political stump. Her "drop of negro blood," which the authors take chapters to describe, seems overemphasized; little information is given about her paternal forbears. This volume's most sympathetic figure is Colette's first husband Willy, portrayed as mentor for Colette's literary career. Written by two French authors (no translator listed), some parts of the book are are clogged with non sequiturs, but the majority of the volume offers a lovely and pungent narrative. Colette's first year of marriage to Willy is delicately and evocatively described. Absorbing and readable, the biography nevertheless creates in the reader a yearning for a biographer who might capture Colette's inner life. Linda Donelson, author of "Out of Isak Dinesen: Karen Blixen's untold story"

I own both, along with many other climbing books. Of the two available books on gym climbing, John Long's is by far the best. This one costs more twice as much, and is less than half as useful. I have no financial interests in this, just a climber since the 70s. Gym climbing offers a relatively new avenue to learn about climbing and a way for serious climbers to stay in top form during winter weekday evenings. Long's book is a must and worth every penny of its $6 cost. Skip this one.

If you are just beginning to climb or thinking about getting into climbing, this is a great place to start. As a woman, I really appreciated the inspirational stories; I remembered as I looked at the top of the wall standing down on the floor at the bottom that there were many women before me with more (often physical) challenges than me who had made it up that wall ! I found that I was more comfortable about approaching the climb after I had reviewed this book and read all about the equipment and how it was used. There is also a section in the back of the book I haven't found in any other book on indoor climbing and that is a list of indoor climbing gyms around the country: great for when you're traveling and want to get in a climb! Mock Rock has shown me a great and simple way to get off the ground!

On the strength of reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post, my book club selected this book as a must read. To a woman, we found this book difficult to plow through. Thurman is enamored of subordinate clauses, tangential references and elliptical thoughts. If she were a journalist, her editor would tell her that she buried her lead at every possible opportunity. The book club came away not giving a hoot about Collette, who her mother was or who either of them slept with. Bottom line: if you are a huge fan of Collette, this might be an interesting book. For the rest of us, it is not.

On the strength of reviews in the New York Times and the Washington Post, my book club selected this book as a must read. To a woman, we found this book difficult to plow through. Thurman is enamored of subordinate clauses, tangential references and elliptical thoughts. If she were a journalist, her editor would tell her that she buried her lead at every possible opportunity. The book club came away not giving a hoot about Collette, who her mother was or who either of them slept with. Bottom line: if you are a huge fan of Collette, this might be an interesting book. For the rest of us, it is not.

I found this to be a very difficult read for someone, like myself, who never read anything by Collette and did not really know anything about her. We chose it for our book club and most of us felt the same way. The beginning was very difficult to get through while both trying to get used to Thurman's writing style and trying to keep up with all of the people she introduces. There was no real depth behind anyone's introduction. I didn't find myself caring about what happened to anyone. Collette was not a nice person, a horrible mother and yet I felt that Thurman was trying to show her in an abused wife role which didn't really fit. I couldn't really figure her out or where she was coming from. I know this is a biography and that Thurman is just telling the facts, but I found it very challenging to read and try to make sense of all of those pieces of information.

in this book Colette talks us about her childhood and her encounters with nature, the relationship with her mother and first amourous experiences. I think that it is not the best book from colette, I would recommend La Vagabonde

I'd be better with money if I avoided buying books like this one. The author's recounting of her money trouble is interesting, but drawn out much too long. And too much time is spent praising Jerrold Mundis; I thought references to "Jerry" were cutesy and inappropriate. If you like your authors to rely on anecdotal evidence, generalize from their own experience to the universe, and write with the level of sophistication encountered in women's magazines, you'll love this book. If you want more than this, avoid it. It would have benefitted from a better editor.

This book combines thoughtful insight into the emotional, behavorial and psychological reasons many women get into deep debt and fail to plan financially for retirement. There is no doubt that both men and women get into deep debt. Dowling suggests that women are more prone to lose control of their financial well-being because of gender scripting we get from a very early age. The challenge of the book is to see through this gender scripting, decide how it may be affecting your financial decisions and then take charge of your financial life. I loved it!

Yes, there is a lot of personal information in the book and more repetition than necessary, but I also found lots to think about, and many good questions. Dowling doesn't present all the answers, but with this topic we need to find our own anyway. I think Dowling does a good job of presenting theory and research on why women have difficulty taking control of their finances. Everyone's story is different, but if you pay attention you will find research, stories and questions that should further your own exploration of issues you may have around money. I am very picky about what I read and I consider the time I spent reading this book time well spent.