From the author of the bestselling Prozac Nation comes one of the most entertaining feminist manifestos ever written. In five brilliant extended essays; she links the lives of women as demanding and disparate as Amy Fisher; Hillary Clinton; Margaux Hemingway; and Nicole Brown Simpson. Wurtzel gives voice to those women whose lives have been misunderstood; who have been dismissed for their beauty; their madness; their youth.Bitch is a brilliant tract on the history of manipulative female behavior. By looking at women who derive their power from their sexuality; Wurtzel offers a trenchant cultural critique of contemporary gender relations. Beginning with Delilah; the first woman to supposedly bring a great man down (latter-day Delilahs include Yoko Ono; Pam Smart; Bess Myerson); Wurtzel finds many biblical counterparts to the men and women in today's headlines.She finds in the story of Amy Fisher the tragic plight of all Lolitas; our thirst for their brief and intense flame. She connects Hemingway's tragic suicide to those of Sylvia Plath; Edie Sedgwick; and Marilyn Monroe; women whose beauty was an end; ultimately; in itself. Wurtzel; writing about the wife/mistress dichotomy; explains how some women are anointed as wife material; while others are relegated to the role of mistress. She takes to task the double standard imposed on women; the cultural insistence on goodness and society's complete obsession with badness: what's a girl to do? Let's face it; if women were any real threat to male power; "Gennifer Flowers would be sitting behind the desk of the Oval Office;" writes Wurtzel; "and Bill Clinton would be a lounge singer in the Excelsior Hotel in Little Rock."Bitch tells a tale both celebratory and cautionary as Wurtzel catalogs some of the most infamous women in history; defending their outsize desires; describing their exquisite loneliness; championing their take-no-prisoners approach to life and to love. Whether writing about Courtney Love; Sally Hemings; Bathsheba; Kimba Wood; Sharon Stone; Princess Di--or waxing eloquent on the hideous success of The Rules; the evil that is The Bridges of Madison County; the twisted logic of You'll Never Make Love in This Town Again--Wurtzel is back with a bitchography that cuts to the core. In prose both blistering and brilliant; Bitch is a treatise on the nature of desperate sexual manipulation and a triumph of pussy power.
#46348 in Books Main Street Books 1991-08-01 1991-08-01Ingredients: Example IngredientsOriginal language:EnglishPDF # 1 5.51 x .27 x 8.26l; .36 #File Name: 0385416679144 pagesGreat product!
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Hilarious and very educationalBy Ms.HitchThis is a HOOT!! I keep it in my powder room and we often quote little bits of the stories in conversation. "She brought deviled eggs made with some kind of oil and mustard that she saw in a magazine. Everyone knew they weren't real". I laugh out loud every time I open this gem. If you live in the South; know a Southerner; or have always wanted to be a Belle - BUY THIS BOOK NOW. Give it to all your friends too; you'll want them to laugh with you when you start quoting it; and believe me; you WILL quote this book.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A humorous; if a bit dated; read on old Southern perspectiveBy carnationIf you have ever lived in the Old South; experienced Greek Life at a Southern school; or just been curious about the quirks of Southern culture; this book is a bit dated but the ideas in it still hold quite true! It's a hilarious anecdotal read that is both touching and ribbing at the same time. Explains the importance of being in the "right" sorority; having the "right" silverware pattern; life in the Junior League; and more....and how those decisions can follow you for the rest of your life. I thoroughly enjoyed it the first time; and have enjoyed picking it up and thumbing through it several times since.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. A Good Idea that Could be ImprovedBy JCI picked this book up because the title appealed to me. I thought that a book about strict standards of behavior and attire would be just the thing for someone weary of today's casual attire--you know; bulging midriffs (worn as if they were an accessory); piercings galore; and clothing that a third-world refugee would shun.The book succeeds in that it has plenty of pleasing tidbits regarding southern standards despite the fact that this edition is somewhat dated. But it could be better. It's disorganized; the author seems to modulate between seriousness and irony in haphazard fashion; as if she were unsure of which tone to choose; and the photos; culled no doubt from newspaper clippings; are a grainy black and white. I'm sorry; but you just cannot have a book about fluffy gals and their fluffy habits and not have good photos.However; maybe these shortcomings are addressed in the newer edition.By the author of "It All Started with a Bicycle"
