As a beginning grad student who has been away from academia for several years, I found this book not only a kick to read but full of refreshingly straightforward information. I plan to follow Ms. Mentor's advice to the letter. But this isn't just a guidebook for academia. Any woman (or man!) who wants succeed -- and survive -- as a professional should read this book.

Emily Toth's book is hilarious and witty, while at the same time offering practical, sensible advice for women in academia--whether they are in graduate school (like I), on the market (this phrase always strikes me as funny--and after reading this book, I find it even more amusing), or already working at a university. Definitely a book worth every cent. I've already purchased two more books for friends who've found it just as useful as I have. The third-person Miss Manners imitation works especially well for this subject, without being irritatingly derivative (as an ardent Judith Martin fan, I was prepared to feel a bit affronted). I wonder what Miss Manners would think? I highly recommend this book, and am already finding myself anxious for a sequel. Ms. Mentor--are you listening out there? Get busy on a sequel!

As one who has already "succeeded" by Toth's criteria (I have tenure at a major university--whew!), I've bought several copies of this book already to give to all my female grad students and teaching assistants. It's must reading for any woman in academia--and I'd recommend it to men, as well (much of the advice could apply to them, and the rest should be read as guidance as to what they should *avoid*!).

This is a good book but can't say it "blows the stagnant 1950s" away (there were exposes before PP and after so it would be a stretch to say that it affected the 1950s in any way!) That being said, there's another book that PP fans should read (if you can find it: Girl from Peyton Place) and is a bio of Grace written in 1964 before the tv series premierred and after her death. Very good! One thing to say about PP it was the first popular nighttime soap (One Man's Family from the 50s aside) that had all of us talking the next day on our way to work about what those:"depraved people were doing in that dirty little town!" Anyhow, good to see someone taking an interest in this subject as the book and its movies and tv series' were cultural icons of the mid 20th century.

Grace Metalious said that she highly doubted if anyone would remember the title "Peyton Place" after her death. Sadly, she died in 1964, from alcoholism, less than ten years after Peyton Place was published. Emily Toth's biography is a fascinating and compelling story of how two women (Metalious and publisher Kitty Messner)rocked the publishing world with a book that many publishers scoffed at, and dismissed as trash. Toth reveals how timing and crafty publicity tactics started a sensational buzz about a book that was ripe for America's stagnant and sterile 1950's. It broke all records for book sales up to that time, and held that spot for over 10 years. The financial success was liberating yet highly troubling for Grace. It led to a broken marriage, several unhappy afairs, tensions with her family and a fatal addiction to alcohol. Once Peyton Place took off, it had a life of it's own. Although it was continually associated with Grace, she had no control over the popular movie or sensational television series. Grace Metalious was independent, outspoken, and certainly not a conformist. She broke all the rules, succeeded, yet paid a hefty price.

I picked up this book and thought it would be some old fashioned boring novel, I was verry surprised the book was sensational, I could not put it down. I am now reading Return to Peyton Place and am equally impressed. It is as current as any book written today. All things don't change.

i really enjoyed reading chopin's private papers -

although what we have left of chopin's personal documets are minimal, this book contains all of it.

still, we can continue to infer and speculate on her life. chopin can be seen as a young and budding woman while she schooled at the sacred heart. and, then travel with her on her eye-opening honeymoon to europe.

this book lends us a more closer look at one of the great female writers of the 19th century.

Emily Toth wrote Unveiling Kate Chopin after the remarkable recent discovery of Chopin's diaries and manuscripts. This intimate perspective paints a whole new picture of her life and work. Throughout this biography, Toth draws parallels between actual experiences from Chopin's life to characters and incidents in her writing. Suddenly, her stories have new depth of meaning. Toth begins her saga when sixteen-year-old Eliza Faris, a genuine Creole, married thirty-nine-year-old Thomas O'Flaherty, a wealthy businessman in St. Louis. A domineering patriarch, O'Flaherty sent his daughter Kate away to boarding school at age five. Although the reason why is unknown, Toth suggests "a dark family drama triggered sending Kate away." Shortly after this, Thomas O'Flaherty died in a tragic train wreck, and Kate came home to stay. This incident of her father's death closely parallels Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," with a different twist at the end. Toth describes Chopin's childhood as a paradise dominated by women. Life bloomed until the Civil War brought the invasion of the Union army to St. Louis. Speaking out against the Union, Kate herself narrowly escaped imprisonment. Union soldiers intruded the family's home, committing, what Toth refers to as, an "outrage." Chopin married a sensitive and wealthy young Louisiana Frenchman, Oscar Chopin. A non-conformist, Kate never quite fit in with his people, displaying such radical behavior as smoking, walking alone, riding bareback and astride, and lifting her skirts to provocatively show her ankles. It is no wonder that she felt like an outsider, similar to Edna Pontellier in The Awakening. After her husband's death, Kate began developing as a professional writer, following the classic rule of "Write about what you know," and submitting her stories to newspapers and magazines. She learned that as long as her heroines never triumphed over their men, they were accepted. Her passion was for exposing the realism of social problems women faced in a world where men wrote the rules. Audiences embraced her book Bayou Folk, yet they looked past the courageous qualities of the women characters, seeing only the quaint local color. In April, 1899 Chopin published her finest work, The Awakening. The crushing reviews of her masterpiece labeled it "morbid," "unhealthy," "not wholesome," "shocking," "crude" and "sex fiction." Thus the novel modern audiences celebrate Kate Chopin for writing, brought her career to a scandalous end. Like Edna in The Awakening, naked and unveiled to the world, she had swum out too far. Chopin died a few years later in 1904. Toth portrays Chopin as a brilliant creative woman with the courage to brave the controversy against conventional traditions of Victorian America. She captures the sensitive world where Chopin bloomed and relates how it cultivated the genius who wrote of subjects nearly a century ahead of her time.

This is an excellent book, written around and shortly after the time of Chopin's feminist classic, The Awakening. The editors have seemingly put together the collection that was rejected by publishers after The Awakening became a scandal. The stories are well worth reading. Withing its pages are "The Story of an Hour," one of her classic character sketches; "Lilacs," a poignant story about leave-taking and the cost of freedom; "Her Letters," a predictable but touching story of love and obsession in the aftermath of a spouse's death; and the title story, an intriguing story concerning gypsies and religion. Catholicism as a theme runs throughout the collection. Some of these seem to be more occassional pieces, and on the whole, there is some uneveness, but a delightful and worthwhile experience nonetheless

A friend gave me this book suggesting that I would enjoy it, and I dutifully read it. I wish I'd spent my time differently. There are some good jokes in it, but all in all, it's not very enlightening.

Important work addressing the bloodmysteries that continue to shroud all women. An extremely helpful text for understanding how the role of menstruation and repoductive capability effects social structures and political equality movements. I highly recommend this read.

I have been reading numerous books on menstruation and menarche lately and without a doubt this book is one of the BEST resources I've encountered. I am amazed at the scope of research these ladies were able to compile, and am impressed with the even-handed and objective analysis they've shared. This is not light reading, and yet it is engrossing and insightful. I am especially impressed with the amount of attention they have paid to menarche (a girl's first period.) Nowhere else (and I've read nearly everything I can find) have I found this much honest, unbiased and straightforward information. My copy came through inter-library loan, but this is definitely a book I will purchase for my own library. Excellent work! My admiration and thanks to these women authors!