|
|
Genealogy Book Store > Genealogy books beginning with B
|
The Bitch in the House: 26 Women Tell the Truth About Sex, Solitude, Work, Motherhood, and Marriage |
Author: Cathi Hanauer
Published: 2003-09-16 |
List price: $13.95
Our price: $11.86
|
Usually ships in 24 hours
As of: January 06th, 2009 12:42:55 AM
|
|
|
Customer comments on this selection.
 The Bitch in The House
I must say that I did not enjoy this book as much as I thought I would. About 3/4 of the way through it seemed as if I was reading a book about a bunch of whiny women who needed to get a life. I could not recommend this book.
 Uhhh....can I have my money back?
I apologize in advance that this review will not be very helpful to anyone, but all I can say is "Can I have my money back?"
Pretty good, mostly
Modern married women will relate to this thoughtful anthology of personal essays. Organized roughly by the age of the authors, The Bitch in the House covers a plethora of issues and decisions facing women today including working or not, marrying or not, having children or not, and how these decisions impact their lives. Although the pace did sag a bit in the middle, altogether it is a fine read. My favorite is the opening essay, "Excuse Me While I Explode," about a young newly-mated woman who finds herself helplessly falling into the same trap she perceives to have held her mother hostage: both resentful and proud about being more domestically competent than her partner.
 Loved this book
Finally a book that really tells what REAL women think, feel, etc. It was a huge revelation to me that other women had the same feelings of insecurity, infidelity, etc.
nice to know I'm not alone. I'd recommend this book to anyone.
 A stay-at-home dad's opininon
The title caught my eye - I'm a married guy - and although I wasn't sure what to expect (ranting ABOUT the less pleasant side of the women in our lives or ranting BY those same women about, well, about who knows what), I ended up kinda liking it.
Most guys from my generation probably aren't naturally drawn to such things, but I've been a stay-at-home dad since our youngest was 6 months old. Now the two boys are 18 and 21 and out on their own (for the most part). My wife is still working and quite successful but near retirement and I'm in a kind of limbo or transition period. Am I a retired dad or should I explore a career? She's cool with it either way (lucky, right?)
Anyway, I liked the book because a lot of what the ladies wrote about was familiar to me. Believe it or not there is some overlap in the way women feel and the way men feel who are involved in marriages and kids and such. Obviously there are differences - plenty of them. I think one major difference is some sort of angst women are wrestling with when it comes to self identity and should they focus on the kids or the career or finding themselves and so on. I personally didn't have to deal with any of that. I had a career and found that I could take it or leave it. I liked hanging out with the kids and being my own boss better. Fortunately we each had sufficient earnings power on our own to support a family. She wanted to join the rat race so more power to her. Obviously we would have been a lot richer financially with both incomes, but how much do you really need and what do you have to give up to get it???
We both had nice careers going before the kids came along. She chose to keep working with the first and so did I so we had a live in nanny. Pretty cool for me (she was older almost like a mother figure) but because she spoke very little English and my wife wasn't all that fluent in Spanish (I majored in it), she eventually grew weary of not being able to share in the stories of what the baby did while she was at work or to feel close to the primary caregiver. Eventually the demands of new motherhood, her career, and biology got the better of her and she had a bout of post partum depression.
Long story short...we had a few traditional years (dad works mom stays home) and another child. Eventually she started feeling that her colleagues were leaving her behind and that all her education and work experience were being wasted. By then we were hooked on the value of having one parent home full time so we switched. This was 1989 and the stay at home dad thing was kinda rare - in fact people everywhere always made a big deal out of it. Strange.
Some reviewers remarked that a lot of 'whining' was going on. In a way I agree, but who says they can't 'vent', ya know? This is the kind of book that allows that sort of thing and it probably is healthy and even helpful for others who may be wrestling with similar issues to see that they are not alone. Something like that.
So for me this book is like a diary that the ladies put together chronicling (sp?) some of their experiences. I enjoyed listening to them and comparing their experiences to my own. My guess is that many of these essayists will grow out of the current angst and into the next stage of life and yet another set of things to deal with. Just like everyone else.
Did I mention I liked the title? LOL
|
Similar Listings
|
|
Our Genealogy book picks:
|
|
Search the Genealogy Products Store
LCS Amazon Store 2.5 © 2009
|
|
|
