Reading Women: How the Great Books of Feminism Changed My Life (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781586488727)

When Stephanie Staal first read The Feminine Mystique in college, she found it "a mildly interesting relic from another era." But more than a decade later, as a married stay-at-home mom in the suburbs, Staal rediscovered Betty Friedan's classic work -- and was surprised how much she identified with the laments and misgivings of 1950s housewives. She set out on a quest: to reenroll at Barnard and re-read the great books she had first encountered as an undergrad.

From the banishment of Eve to Judith Butler's Gender Trouble, Staal explores the significance of each of these classic tales by and of women, highlighting the relevance these ideas still have today. This process leads Staal to find the self she thought she had lost -- curious and ambitious, zany and critical -- and inspires new understandings of her relationships with her husband, her mother, and her daughter.

Author: Stephanie Staal
ISBN-10: 1586488724
ISBN-13: 9781586488727
Publisher: PublicAffairs
Language: English
Published: 02/22/2011
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.61lbs
Size: 8.10h x 5.40w x 0.90d

Review Citation(s):
Booklist 02/15/2011 pg. 35
Publishers Weekly 01/03/2011