book reviews - Jezebel

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#booknotes

Sticks And Stones
Julie Powell: "Somehow, it seems to me, there's something particularly eye-opening about the pans for Cleaving...some way in which writing about the book seems to reveal as much or more about the reviewer as about the book being reviewed." [XX]

12/08/09

1,765

42

By Sadie
#bookreviews

Changing My Mind: On Fiction, Race, And How 50 Cent Is Like Samuel Beckett
Zadie Smith established herself as a literary wunderkind when she published White Teeth at the age of 25. Her collection of essays on topics ranging from Zora Neale Hurston to 50 Cent shows she's grown into something more. More »

12/03/09

7,708

54

By Anna N.
#etiquette

The Recently Deflowered Girl: A Reissue, A Review
Obviously, we ordered this newly-reissued book immediately, eager for advice. Yes, Edward Gorey, the master of pen-and-ink, tackles what to say after Deflowerment-by-Marimba-Player, Deflowerment-on-Cross-Country-Bus, and, obviously, Deflowerment-at-Seance. But the modern age has wraught a whole new batch of dubious occasions: More »

11/18/09

9,190

33

By Sadie
#bookreviews

Going Rouge: Feminists Weren't Fooled Once, Won't Be Fooled Again
Is there anything left to say about Sarah Palin? Going Rouge, the just-released liberal answer to Palin's memoir, has something to say, which is that strikingly little has changed about her a year later. That's both good and bad news. More »

11/18/09

10,589

57

By Irin
#bookreviews

"Palinizing" Prejean, Prejeanizing Palin: Two Conservative Women Look Out For #1
Carrie Prejean has complained of being "Palinized" — that is, discriminated against because she's a conservative woman — but she and Sarah Palin have more in common than just a victim complex. More »

11/18/09

9,187

177

By Anna N.
#litlists

Is It Time To Stop Listing "Best" Books?
Publishers Weekly didn't include any female authors on its list of the 10 best books of 2009. Is a counter-list in order, or should we just do away with such lists entirely? More »

11/06/09

5,322

62

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Superfreakonomics: Not That Super Or Freaky
Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, authors of Superfreakonomics, cast themselves as iconoclastic contrarians. But in many ways, their book is actually pretty conventional. More »

11/04/09

8,650

163

By Anna N.
#fleshforfantasy

Am I Dating A Werewolf? And Other Questions For Francesca Lia Block
You may scoff at the mere idea of a dating guidebook. You may almost certainly scoff at one that matches people by their mythological creature -type. I did too at first, and I have a professional astrologer on speed-dial. More »

11/02/09

10,221

106

By Emily Gould

#bookreviews

Bright-Sided: The Negative Consequences Of Positive Thinking
According to Barbara Ehrenreich's Bright-Sided, the much-vaunted "power of positive thinking" won't cure cancer, make us rich, or necessarily even keep us happy. In fact, it may be harming us. More »

10/21/09

14,495

298

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Impossible Motherhood: An "Abortion Addict" Tells Her Story
In Impossible Motherhood, Irene Vilar writes, "I want to explore how when abortion takes on repetitive and self-mutilating qualities it can point to an addiction." But her book is really an exploration of a single tragedy-stricken life. More »

10/07/09

20,249

113

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Prospect Park West: In Park Slope, Hell Is Other Parents
In the much-ballyhooed Prospect Park West, Amy Sohn welcomes her readers to Park Slope, where the women are mean, the men are asexual, and all the children wear kneepads. More »

09/23/09

17,204

113

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Mad, Bad & Sad: History Of Female Mental Illness Turns Into Indictment Of Psychotherapy
From force-feeding to tooth removal to stomach surgery, mental patients throughout history — many of them women — have endured some pretty horrific therapies. In Mad, Bad & Sad, Lisa Appignanesi questions whether modern treatments are much better. More »

09/09/09

9,158

108

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

The Gift Of Fear: How To Prevent Another Gym Rampage
The gym where George Sodini went on his shooting rampage reopened this weekend, and today, we look at a book that some believe could help prevent future violence there and everywhere: Gavin de Becker's The Gift of Fear. More »

08/24/09

15,706

310

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Everything Sucks: Why Americans Love Prep School Stories
Hannah Friedman's Everything Sucks is billed as the anti-Gossip Girl, but it speaks to the same cultural obsession: a combined envy of and disgust for the very rich and very young. More »

08/13/09

9,501

99

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Are All Female Friends Really Frenemies?
I'm So Happy For You, a new novel by novelist Lucinda Rosenfeld, makes female friendships seem like a supremely unpleasant, never-ending status game. More »

06/25/09

15,037

312

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Wintergirls: Possibly Triggering, Definitely Thought-Provoking
Is Wintergirls, Laurie Halse Anderson's young adult novel about anorexia and bulimia, a dangerous trigger for eating-disordered readers, a thoughtful examination of a terrible disease, or both? We read it to find out. [Spoilers follow.] More »

05/19/09

12,026

104

By Anna N.
#ayeletwaldman

Bad Mother, Good Writer
"A good mother [...] doesn't need her kids to like her all the time. Of writers and their readers, Waldman's book leaves me thinking, the same might be true." — Susan Dominus [NYT]

05/11/09

4,002

43

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Bad Mother Promises "Maternal Crimes," Delivers Misdemeanors
Ayelet Waldman, who famously wrote about loving her husband more than her kids, just published Bad Mother, a parenting memoir she describes as a "f&%k you to the insane Urban-Baby types." More »

05/08/09

18,557

269

By Anna N.
#bookreviews

Cosmo's Helen Gurley Brown: Maybe Not Such A Bad Girl After All
In Bad Girls Go Everywhere, Jennifer Scanlon tries hard to make Helen Gurley Brown look like an unjustly overlooked feminist icon — and she kind of succeeds. More »

05/04/09

7,771

147

By Anna N.

#bookreviews

Jezebel

Sticks And Stones

Changing My Mind: On Fiction, Race, And How 50 Cent Is Like Samuel Beckett

The Recently Deflowered Girl: A Reissue, A Review

Going Rouge: Feminists Weren't Fooled Once, Won't Be Fooled Again

"Palinizing" Prejean, Prejeanizing Palin: Two Conservative Women Look Out For #1

Is It Time To Stop Listing "Best" Books?

Superfreakonomics: Not That Super Or Freaky

Am I Dating A Werewolf? And Other Questions For Francesca Lia Block

Bright-Sided: The Negative Consequences Of Positive Thinking

Impossible Motherhood: An "Abortion Addict" Tells Her Story

Prospect Park West: In Park Slope, Hell Is Other Parents

Mad, Bad & Sad: History Of Female Mental Illness Turns Into Indictment Of Psychotherapy

The Gift Of Fear: How To Prevent Another Gym Rampage

Everything Sucks: Why Americans Love Prep School Stories

Are All Female Friends Really Frenemies?

Wintergirls: Possibly Triggering, Definitely Thought-Provoking

Bad Mother, Good Writer

Bad Mother Promises "Maternal Crimes," Delivers Misdemeanors

Cosmo's Helen Gurley Brown: Maybe Not Such A Bad Girl After All

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