Our Babies, Ourselves by Meredith Small

August 1st, 2008 · 5 Comments

Synopsis:
An exploration of how parenting styles around the world bring into question our definition of normal infant behavior.
Review:
I was familiar already with a lot of the content of Our Babies, Ourselves, because Meredith Small’s findings crop up in a lot of literature on attachment parenting. However, it was still well worth reading because she [...]

Popularity: 18% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

The Starter Marriage by Pamela Paul

March 28th, 2008 · No Comments

Synopsis:
An overview of the recent phenomenon of marriages that end before they reach the five-year mark.
Review:
I hate books that never tell you more than what you read in the title. I generally enjoy books like this, as I’m keenly interested in human behavior and social trends, but this book really didn’t do it for [...]

Popularity: 33% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

The Best of Everything by Rona Jaffe

October 28th, 2007 · 2 Comments

Synopsis:
3 young women meet in the typing pool at Fabian Publishing, 1952, hoping for love and finding that life has more to offer than they ever imagined.
Review:
I haven’t done much rereading since starting this blog, mostly thanks to the TBR tsunami that Bookmooch yielded out of a few boxes of discarded books my mom cleaned [...]

Popularity: 38% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

Last Night in Paradise by Katie Roiphe

August 8th, 2007 · 7 Comments

Synopsis:
A look at sexual mores in the age of AIDS.
Review:
I like a good polemic as much as the next person, particularly when it involves people having lots of sex, mostly because I always feel like that’s nice work if you can get it. Last Night in Paradise isn’t hard-hitting investigative journalism as much as [...]

Popularity: 41% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

Who Stole Feminism? by Christina Hoff Sommers

April 24th, 2007 · 2 Comments

Synopsis:
Hoff Sommers debunks “gender feminism” and the scare tactics its proponents use to promote their radical agenda.
Review:
Susan Faludi’s Backlash came out when I was in college, and had a tremendous impact on me. Today, I consider myself a feminist with reservations. I’ll speak out wherever I can against injustice against women, but where [...]

Popularity: 40% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

Unprotected by Anonymous, MD

April 4th, 2007 · 2 Comments

Synopsis:
A survey of the state of affairs in campus counseling, presenting the argument that sexual activity is being left out of the equation with disastrous results.
Review:
The full title, Unprotected: A Campus Psychiatrist Reveals How Political Correctness in her Profession Endangers Every Student, offers a very good sense of the writer’s agenda, and she provides a [...]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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Tags: On Reading

Stiffed by Susan Faludi

December 26th, 2006 · No Comments

Synopsis:
An essay-driven look at various crises facing American men.
Popularity: 25% [?]

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Popularity: 25% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

Special Topics in Calamity Physics by Marisha Pessl

November 25th, 2006 · 7 Comments

Synopsis:
A brainy high school senior narrates the events that led to the death of her charismatic and disturbed teacher.
Review:
I stayed up until 1:30 am last night blazing through the last 200 pages of the book, in a state of amazement (and not a little jealousy) over the superb plotting Pessl married to her delicious prose [...]

Popularity: 30% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

November 20th, 2006 · 3 Comments

Synopsis:
We live in the Age of Show Business. Postman’s book is a history of discourse that presents the case for the preeminence of the written word over visual media, and outlines the ills inherent in a visually-driven society.
Review:
I was somewhat familiar with Postman’s general ideas, having been friends with one of his protegees for [...]

Popularity: 42% [?]

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Tags: American Literature

The Overspent American by Juliet Schor

November 18th, 2006 · 5 Comments

Synopsis:
A survey of how American spending patterns have spiraled out of control.
Review:
I am having an enjoyable debate about how fast is too fast when it comes to reading in the comments portion of the Zadie Smith post I linked to earlier, so it’s a tad ironic that I’m going to tell you that I TOTALLY [...]

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Tags: American Literature