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Pink Think: Becoming a Woman in Many Uneasy Lessons is a fascinating result of author Lynn Peril’s obsession with collecting retro advertising and advice books from the 40’s through the 70’s. In Peril’s words, Pink think “is a set of ideas and behaviors about what constitutes proper female behavior.”
Women were subjected to these pink think ideals from every angle of society, “advice writers, manufacturers of toys and other consumer products, experts in many walks of life, and the public at large…” Society held incredibly high and restrictive standards for women to be feminine, which meant to be gentle, soft, delicate, nurturing. Society believed that women could “desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity.” And the color pink became specifically associated with femininity everywhere. There was no escaping it.
Society seemed to fear that if women worked, or became too independent, the world would come crashing down around us. Work outside of the home was made to seem more like a distraction- a way to spend your time until you get married instead of being a way to feel fulfilled. A 1950 ad for U.S. Savings Bonds read “when a young girl goes to work, she is apt to look on her job pretty much as a fill-in between maturity and marriage.”
Peril includes in the book a test that was in the February 1960 issue of Seventeen magazine entitled How Do You Rate as a Girl? It includes thought-provoking questions like “Do you listen responsively to a story you have heard before rather than squash the pleasure of the boy who is telling it?” and “In a serious discussion which includes both sexes, can you keep from being overpowering even though you know a great deal on the subject?” If you scored perfectly you are deemed a “veritable flower of femininity.” I took the quiz myself and scored five to seven yeses- “there are a few thorns.” Couldn’t be prouder.
It was almost frightening to read about the advice that “experts” were giving to women about how to be “feminine.” Essayist Louis Paine Benjamin wrote in 1947, “[Women] will know how to whip up a tasty meal, a new dress…turn a shirt collar or paint a living room…woman’s skill and interest in her home life can be just as stimulating and ego-rewarding as a successful profession in the business world.” All those experts were forceful that women would be unable to find anything other than being a wife and mother as completely satisfying. Of course some women did, and do, find being a stay-at-home mom satisfying. But, whereas we have the choice now, in the 40’s work outside the home was automatically considered unfeminine.
Peril also looks at how advertisers targeted women by associating their products with helping to create the perfect family. She looks at the experts advice on sex-ed and a girls reputation. And in an effort to look at all perspectives, Peril delves a bit into how boys and men also had specific standards of behavior they were expected to live up to. But that’s a far less interesting chapter.
Obviously, things have changed. Women can choose to stay home with their kids, have a career outside the house, or do both. But this book also made me wonder about how things haven’t changed. Television ads for cleaning products always show women looking completely satisfied after finally being able to get their kitchen floors sparkling. But how often do you see men featured in ads like these? And fashion advertisements consistently display thin, beautiful women with flawless skin and glossy hair. These unrealistic pictures, which have been airbrushed to death, are the new impossible standards women face. And of course, the age old question. Career and a family: can women have it all?
Pink Think is not just an interesting and enjoyable read. It was truly thought-provoking and made me realize that even though women have earned more independence and respect in society, we are still faced with, and have to fight against, pink think.
I’ve never met Diane Johnson, author of Into a Paris Quartier: Reine Margot’s Chapel and other Haunts of St.-Germain and Le Divorce, but we do have something in common; we both love Paris. And while I’ve only ever dreamed about walking by the Seine and eating croissants at cafe’s in the famous walking city, Johnson lives it. She splits her time between San Fransisco and Paris and Into a Paris Quartier is her own love letter to the beauty of the city. For Johnson, the history and architecture is part of what makes Paris so special to her. It’s rich past is embedded in every part of the present- you can’t escape it. Janet Flanner, the New Yorker correspondent, wrote, “The streets sing, the stones talk. The houses drip history, glory, romance.”
In Johnson’s introduction, she writes that “the City of Light has haunted the American imagination from the days of Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.” Johnson is just another American that has fallen under the influence of the city’s allure. Johnson’s apartment is on Rue Bonaparte in the historic and famous neighborhood of St.-Germain-des-Pres. Jefferson lived just a few doors down two hundred years earlier and Franklin just around the corner. The spirit of Sartre, Beauvoir, Wilde, Piaf and Wharton still vibrate around every corner.
From her apartment window, Johnson can see an old chapel built by Queen Margot in 1608 and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. She is a stone’s throw from Louvre, the Insitut de France, the Pont Neuf and other famous landmarks. Every building has a story, a rich history. The influence of great figures in history are in the streets they walked and they linger in the buildings they built.
Johnson begins her book with a question: What is it about Paris? Into a Paris Quartier is Johnson’s own search for what Paris means to her- what it is that keeps her coming back every year- what made her fall in love with the city and consider it home.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen has it all- romance, jealous husbands, murder… the circus, an elephant with a penchant for alchohol and so much more.
The novel follows Jacob Jankowski, an old man (unhappily) living in a nursing home. He gets occasional, unmemorable visits from his children and finds comfort in complaining about the food. One fine day the circus comes to town. As they begin to set up the tent right across from the nursing home, Jacob’s mind slips back and forth between the present and the past.
When Jacob was in college, his parents were killed in a car accident. Reeling from the news, he walks out of his final college exam before becoming a veterinarian and runs away. He stumbles on a passing train, jumps on, and interrupts a group of circus folk. After narrowly escaping being tossed from the moving train by a muscly circus worker, Jacob joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth (which turns out to NOT be the most spectacular show) as the new vet. Soon, Jacob finds himself with a roommate who harbors an intense dislike for him, falling for a beautiful circus perfomer (who happens to be married to a very jealous man) and almost getting his arm taken off by a tiger.
Water for Elephants is an original, creative novel- a real page-turner, filled with great descriptions and an interesting cast of characters. But the story goes further than a behind-the-scenes drama at the circus. The treatment of the animals often mirrors that of the circus workers. They are treated as a commodity- without humanity. But the struggle, compassion and developing relationship between the workers and the animals adds real beauty to the novel. It’ll get you from the first paragraph and keep you gripped until the last page.
An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England is an odd (but good) novel starring a sort of quirky (but lazy) protagonist, a mysterious mystery, family dysfunction and, of course, plenty of arson.
The main character is Sam Pulsifer, who, when he was a teenager, “accidentally” set the historial and beloved home of Emily Dickinson on fire, burnt it to a crisp, killed two people in the process, and solidified his role as the town’s outcast. So he went off to prison for ten years, squatted in his parents home for a while after that until he was kicked out, and reluctantly went off to community college. He quickly set out to forget his past and made a new life for himself. One that included marraige and fatherhood but didn’t include him telling his family about the “accident.” But it becomes impossible for him to hide his past when it walks right up his driveway. And when someone begins burning down historical writers’ homes in New England and Sam is the prime suspect, the perfect life he tried to build up around him, quickly come crashing down.
I felt that the novel began slowly. But soon mysteries start popping up, the plot begins moving swiftly along, and Sam’s character becomes both endearing and frustrating (an interesting combination). The tone, the voice and the characters in this novel are original, different. If you want to read a book that is both witty and heartbreaking, An Arsonist’s Guide to Writer’s Homes in New England is a good choice.
Summer at Tiffany is a charming story written by Marjorie Hart about the summer of 1945, when she and her best friend, and sorority sister, Marty leave Iowa for life in the big city- New York City. They found a great apartment (with a couch on wheels) and even greater summer jobs (the first female pages at Tiffany and Co.) and had themselves the most memorable summer of their lives full of diamonds, movie stars and midshipmen.
This is no tale of epic romances or nail-biting action. Hart simply puts on paper the enchanting memories of a summer long ago. It’s a great look at how America used to be: when a sandwich and a drink cost 15 cents and the subway cost a nickle, stores were closed on Saturdays because of the war, and cafe society was filled with velvet booths and twenty-five peice bands.
It was an interesting time to be in New York as well because of the war. Marjorie and Marty were there to welcome back the Queen Mary with 14,000 servicemen and women aboard and also were in Times Square when it was announced that the Japanese had surrendered. Hart eloquently wrote about that moment bringing it to life with great description of the scores of people squeezed into Times Square and observing that “no one was a stranger in that crowd…” It was really incredible to read how involved everyone was in helping the war effort. Small efforts were made by everyone every day- it was a part of their normal lives.
During the week, they lived glamour and fun at Tiffany & Co., where the uniforms were “elegant shirtwaist style in an aqua-blue silk jersey with black leather shoulder bags for deliveries.” Movie stars such as Judy Garland and Marlene Deitrich floated through the store throughout the summer, and Marjorie and Marty were free to admire the diamonds, crystal and china adorning the shelves and become chums with the salesmen on the floor. And on the weekend, Marjorie and Marty explored the city- restaurants, dances, dates…and the subway. They also took their first trip to the beach, where they fell asleep, awoke with sunburns and found that they had missed the last bus to the city but were luckily able to hitch a ride with a couple of amused poilcemen.
Hart writes with great wit, energy and youthful enthusiam. You can tell she had a blast writing and remembering all that happened to her during those couple of months all those years ago. The pace of her storytelling is just right and she kept my interest from the first word to the last. Hart does a great job of bringing the reader into the moment and experiencing the excitement of being young in a big city. She includes letters she wrote to her family in Iowa during her summer in the city and they provide further proof as to the great culture shock she must have experienced that summer. If you’re in the mood for something light and cheeful, this is the book.
Shopaholic and Baby is the fourth book in the Shopaholic series. And I’m happy to report that Becky Brandon, nee Bloomwood, is as entertaining and addicted to shopping as ever. Pregnancy can’t slow down this committed consumer- it just gives her more ground to cover.
Sophie Kinsella, nee Madeleine Wickham, keeps the fourth book in this series fresh and witty. Becky Brandon is pregnant (it’s a honeymoon baby) and is excited about adventuring into motherhood, expanding her family, and…shopping! Rattles, vintage-hobbyhorses, and prams, oh my! And of course, she must get an appointment with the must-have celebrity obstetrician, Venetia Carter. But when Venetia Carter turns out to be an ex-girlfriend of Becky’s husband Luke, Becky’s baby-bliss begins to crumble. There’s always a little bit of drama in each Shopaholic book, but Kinsella is a pro at keeping the twists and turns balanced between humorous and heartfelt.
While Becky shops her way through the maternity retail in England and investigates her celebrity obstetrician, she uses her fabulous wardrobe to bribe her way to her dream-house, discovers the joys of carrying a pram around pre-baby (for the days when you have too many shopping bags) and the consequences of pretending to have a sleeping baby just to get to the front of the line. Becky Brandon hasn’t necessarily matured since Confessions of a Shopaholic…but she is genuine and determined.
I have certain expectations each time I’ve started reading one of the books in this series, and I’m always satisfied. Kinsella has kept a consistent comic voice in each book and writes with humor, honesty and a dash of irrational paranoia (which is so Becky). And if Kinsella allowed Becky to be too mature, Shopaholic and Baby would not be half as good as it is. Becky’s love for shopping and unbalanced sense of curiosity keeps her in trouble…and the reader in hysterics.
Every time I turn around in a bookstore up pops a new chick-lit book. Some are good; some…not so good. I feel like most of those books are following some kind of specific formula and being churned out to make money. So it’s always nice to read a book by a talented author who can bring to life a female protagonist who is smart, present and original. Melissa Bank’s The Wonder Spot is like a breath of fresh air.
I wanted to read this book through for a second time immediately after I finished it. The characters are real and the language is moving, witty and real. The Wonder Spot follows the life of Sophie Applebaum. The novel is divided into chapters that show Sophie at different times in her life. Bank doesn’t give a nice, neat conventionally told story. Instead she shows Sophie in a way that allows the reader to understand why she is who she is.
The story begins with Sophie as a child trying to feign interest in Hebrew school while seeing a surprising side of the school bully. The next chapter finds Sophie a freshman in college with an aloof roommate, aptly named Venice. By getting to see Sophie as a child, a college graduate, a newbie in the “real world”, a friend, a daughter and sister, I got a chance to relate to her on so many different levels. By the end of the book I was so connected with Sophie and had really invested myself in her story.
Sophie isn’t a one-note character either. She has real issues and a real life. Sophie goes through several different jobs- publishing and advertising- trying to find herself a spot in the working world. Bank reveals Sophie’s romantic life in a way that shows how she changes and learns from each failed relationship. Bank also explores the theme of family- Sophie’s relationship with her brothers, her ever-wise father, exasperating mother, and hard-nosed grandmother change as she grows up. It was interesting to see how Sophie’s relationships with her brothers changed from when they were siblings to when they became adults.
Bank has a great writing style which infuses the characters with life and makes them unique. One night during a date, Sophie sees “a girl so thin she might have faxed herself; her sheaf of friends joined her and folded themselves into the next booth.”
I’m really excited for Bank’s next book. I love her characters, style, and the way she portrays relationships. I hope she strengthens a trend for women writers and publishers- to infuse the world of literature with more strong, female characters whose concerns are more imperative than designer labels and the latest fad diets.
Everything I know about being a spy was limited to my obsession with the show Alias and the occasional James Bond movie. Suffice to say, I had a very glamourous idea of what it meant to be a spy: crazy get-ups, dangerous situations, revenge seeking nemeses and evil genius bosses. So I was very excited to read Lindsay Moran’s true story of her time working overseas for the CIA.
It seemed that Lindsay Moran shared my ideas of what it meant to be a CIA spy before she signed up to actually be one. She became fascinated with the idea of espionage through spy novels and movies and even suspected that both her father and grandfather (Boompah) worked secretly for the CIA. After applying and being accepted into the CIA, Moran soon learns what will be required. After a particularly uncomfortable experience with a lie detector test, Moran realizes that her private life is going to have to be put on hold. Nothing can be hidden from the agency. The first to go- Moran’s Bulgarian boyfriend.
Moran starts with office work and classes (CIA 101). She bonds with her fellow trainees like Warren, an overall good guy who happens to fall asleep in every lecture and blow people’s cover in public, or Aaron, who likes to end conversations with a hearty “Semper Fi!”
Moran continued to bond with other trainees at “The Farm” (a CIA-owned site in Virginia). I found this to be the most interesting part of the book. At The Farm, Moran earns the nickname “Miss Daisy” during the defensive driving course, careens through obstacle courses, learns how to shoot guns, jump out of an airplane, and shake a tail. I often found myself laughing out loud at Moran’s misadventures- especially when she inadvertently shut down the base’s electricity for several hours after missing the designated area for a drop from an airplane.
Once Moran’s training ends and she begins field work, the pace of the book begins to slow. I actually found this to be the least entertaining part of the story. Moran begins work in the field overseas in Bulgaria and Macedonia, trying to find individuals with knowledge the CIA could use. None of the agents she recruits or meets with seem to be worthwhile- or too intelligent. As Moran becomes increasingly frustrated with her work, her world becomes increasingly insulated. She never sees her family and is constantly lying to her friends. The existence of a CIA spy becomes less thrilling or satisfying than she had hoped. There would be no sneaking late at night into foreign military offices to steal codes. She seemed to have spent most of her time with creepy, chauvinistic men who proved to be a waste of time or swimming in the polluted public swimming pool.
While the story lags at the end, I really enjoyed Moran’s style throughout the book. Her writing is energetic, witty, and honest. The entire story takes you through the six years she spent in the CIA. It is an interesting look into the world of spying- and the complicated existence of the spy.
Months ago, I was channel surfing and stopped on the C-SPAN Book station. I hardly ever watch this station, but for some reason I stopped to watch a bit. A lady was interviewing author Daniel Mendelsohn about his most recent book The Lost: The Search for Six of Six Million. I’m so glad that I paused to hear his amazing story about the search for six of his relatives who died in the Holocaust. The Lost is the incredible tale of his journey all over the world to find out how these people- an uncle, an aunt and their four daughters- died during World War II. I was at the bookstore last week and was ecstatic to see the book out in paperback. It didn’t take me long to finish; I couldn’t put it down.
Mendelsohn doesn’t simply tell you this story; it is more like a conversation. While I was reading the pages, I felt like he could have been sitting across the table from me relating these stories himself. He begins with his childhood- how older relatives would sometimes cry when they looked at him because of his stark resemblance to a dead great-uncle. Of his grandfather’s six siblings, Shmiel Jager was the only one hadn’t emigrated to the United States. Shmiel Jager, his wife Ester, and their four daughters Lorka, Frydka, Ruchele and Bronia all perished during the Holocaust. Nobody knew what happened to them during the time leading up to their deaths or how exactly they died. It was for these reasons that Mendelsohn traveled so far to answer these questions.
For hundred of years, the Jager family had lived in the Ukranian town of Bolechow. Of the six thousand Jewish people who lived in Bolechow, only forty-eight survived the war and when Mendelsohn began his travels in 2003 there were only twelve that were still alive. And so he traveled to places like Australia, Israel, Sweden and Denmark and through these survivors he began an amazing journey in getting to know Shmiel, Ester, Lorka, Frydka, Ruchele and Bronia. Not only how they died, but how they lived.
The Lost is so much more than just Mendelsohn’s search for his relatives. It’s a story that explores family and community, heritage and identity, religion and culture, war, survival, distance and time. It’s a riveting story and a must-read.
I love reading books by southern writers- especially southern women writers. And I’m going to add Sarah Addison Allen to my list. In her charming debut novel Garden Spells, Allen brings to life a simple tale about the strained relationship between two sisters, life in a small southern town, and a temperamental apple tree.
Claire Waverly has always been dependable. Her sister Sydney ran away from her Bascom, North Carolina upbringing and the Waverly name as soon as she could get away. Ever since, Claire carved a pleasant life for herself in Bascon, carrying on the Waverly traditions even after her grandmother’s death. After ten years, Syndey mysteriously returns to Bascom with a young child in tow. Suddenly both sisters must come to terms with their past.
I loved every second I spent reading this book. It is quirky and beautifully written, and I can’t wait for Allen’s next novel.
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