Persuader by Lee Child

Posted on February 4, 2011 by pagesofjulia

It’s an interesting world here in Houston these days. We are having completely abnormal weather: three nights in a row of hard freezes are just about unheard of. Our pipes froze the first night (we have learned some things since then) and yesterday afternoon, and today, businesses have closed, people have been sent home from work (or told not to come), and there has been some minor panicking over road conditions. The panic may have been a little over the top but then again, we have significant ice on the roads and many of us (many! including me) don’t know WHAT to do with that; there have been quite a few car accidents and apparently one traffic fatality. I think staying home sounds stellar, if possible. I am at work today. Ah well.

All of this did conspire to cancel all my plans and back-up plans last night, so I settled in instead to finish my latest Lee Child/Jack Reacher novel, Persuader. It was great! Just what I’m looking for from him, again. Usually Reacher has to be convinced to take up whatever cause is in question, but not this time. When the book opens he has recognized a sinister face from his past, and he’s already determined to involve himself in whatever this man may have going. We meet some unusually friendly, likeable, cooperative federal agents (usually he butts heads with these folks) and he heads into an elaborate set-up. It’s good juicy action that engages from the first page. And unlike my last Reacher read, it ends satisfyingly. Reacher finds the holy grail, makes a love connection and disentangles from it in the same breath, gets a new set of clothes, and walks into the sunset. Or the sunrise; he likes to leave his destination up in the air, after all.

This was just the kind of quick, adrenaline-packed, comforting couch read I was looking for. Ah, what a delicious night at home with the Husband and the two dogs. Today I’m straight into the next read, Birds of a Feather, in an attempt to catch up with the Maisie Dobbs Read-Along. Soon, though, I intend to get into some classics for the Classics Challenge; I have some set aside. What a lovely world!

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: , | 2 Comments »

finishing Mr. Playboy

Posted on February 1, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Two and a half weeks! Can you believe it? I can’t remember the last time it took me this long to read a book that I was consistently reading and enjoying and staying interested in. It was long! at almost 500 pages. But it was worth my time. Thanks for being patient with me; now we’ll go back to reading shorter books faster!

Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, by Steven Watts, was worth all of my two and a half weeks. I learned a lot about Hefner, and the magazine, and the institution (or empire!) that is Playboy Entertainment, Incorporated. I also learned a lot about our nation’s history and cultural changes. I ended up feeling that Watts did treat Hefner sympathetically; he seems to respect Hefner’s place in our history, as a leader of a number of changes we’ve undergone. The conclusion of the books seems to me to be that Hefner was a good guy at heart, who bumbled into some mistakes, but wanted the best for his family, his company, and his country; he had some serious flaws (self-centeredness for sure, and a tendency towards a double standard betwixt the genders) but also learned and grew as a person.

I feel pretty well convinced that he is not a sexist. He put women on equal standing consistently, and before the country did. But of course his relationship with feminism and women’s rights has always been complicated. There are different ways to interpret the beautiful nudes he favors. Are women empowered by being able to show themselves as fully sexual beings, and make their own livings and their own lives? Or does he objectify them? (The argument presented by some “equity feminists” in this book, which I think Watts is sympathetic to, is that men view women as sexual objects, as women view men as sexual objects; the key is not to think that anyone is ONLY a sexual object. It’s a part of all of our identities. It’s an interesting argument.)

I can’t say that Watts gave an entirely fair and objective portrait, but I think that he did criticize Hefner, and share the critics’ arguments. I finished with more or less the same impression of the man that I started with: he’s done a lot of good, some questionable, but largely good, and he’s awfully interesting, complicated, contradictory, and controversial. (and bizarre, and fantastical…) But now I have a much better understanding of my opinion. I think I agree with Watts in the end.

At any rate I found it a fascinating read, and it’s much bigger than the tale of a playboy. It is, in part, also the story of the sexual revolution, consumerism, post-war American culture, the religious right movement of the Reagan decade, gender politics, big business, censorship and free speech, AND a playboy. Hefner’s larger than himself; he really sort of IS the magazine and the company, and saw himself that way from the moment he conceptualized it.

After finishing this book I picked up the January issue of Playboy magazine to finish reading a few articles. The one on the Mexican drug cartels and widespread violence we’re hearing about in the news was pretty disturbing; it’s hard to know, amidst all the news hype, how scared to be, but the Husband and I have been wanting to vacation down south again, and I think we’re going elsewhere, just to be safe. The fiction this month was a short crime story by Walter Mosley, which was a treat. (I see that Playboy is continuing to find quality fiction, something that Watts taught me has been a priority since the beginning.) And finally, I read “The Demise of the Hollywood Tough Guy”, about old movies and the roles we don’t see any more. I think it’s a good magazine, even though the naked women are not my cup of tea. There, I’m on record.

Off to begin something new! Perhaps you’ll get a Teaser Tuesday post this afternoon.

Filed under: book reviews, miscellaneous | Tagged: , | 3 Comments »

where do you get your books?

Posted on February 1, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Today’s subject is independent booksellers.

I found an interesting article in yesterday’s issue of Shelf Awareness. For your sake I’m giving you the whole article here since there’s no direct link, although you can find it along with other news at the link above. So first, from Shelf Awareness:

“Local independent booksellers are still fighting the good fight–and winning” was the headline for a Pioneer Press feature on Minneapolis-St. Paul area booksellers, noting: “Strong indie bookstores contributed to the Twin Cities’ rankings in Central Connecticut State University’s list of most literate cities. The annual study included six criteria, one of which was the number of bookstores per capita. Minneapolis came in third; St. Paul was seventh.”

Among the secrets to indie success cited were “hiring knowledgeable staff, selling books off-site, making available books that are hard to find in chain stores and working to become part of their communities,” the Pioneer Press wrote.

“A good local bookstore is like a good local bar, where everybody knows your name,” said Sue Zumberge, manager of Common Good Books.

The increasing importance and popularity of shop local movements was another critical factor mentioned by several booksellers.

“People are recognizing the limits of shopping online, where you have to know what you’re looking for,” said Hans Weyandt, co-owner of Micawbers Books. “My favorite thing, which happens in our store on a regular basis, is when a customer says, ‘I had no idea this book existed.’ That’s why you need a knowledgeable staff.”

Birchbark Books manager Susan White added, “This buy local-spend local trend has been building for several years, and we are benefiting from it. Customers who think about where they want dollars to go purposely come to us, even though it’s out of the way for some.”

The e-book sales option for indies is gaining national attention with the debut of the Google eBookstore. Michele Cromer-Poire, co-owner of the Red Balloon Bookshop said, “We’ve been selling e-books a long time, and with publicity surrounding the Google website, we are hoping things pick up. We want our customers to have options and understand they can get e-books from us at prices competitive with big retailers. But e-books are only a part of the mix. I don’t think picture books are ever going to go away.”

Jay Peterson, manager at Magers & Quinn Booksellers, envisions two models of independent bookstores surviving: “One model is like Birchbark and Micawbers–small, strong stores that do a great job of picking books for their neighbors and the neighbors are supportive. Our model is the other–a mix of new, used, rare and bargain books that covers a lot of price points and a lot of breadth.”

I really appreciated the bookseller’s reference to the larger buying-local movement. I think of “localism” as applying to fresh food, like produce, because from a nutritional standpoint your food will be fresher and more suited to your climate if you buy locally; but of course the larger issue is economic and political. Supporting local and/or small businesses is an admirable cause, and I subscribe to the concept, but I could certainly do a better job, in practice, of supporting my local Whatever-It-Is. (By the way, shameless plug, for a local Houston bike shop I recommend Bikesport.) And in the world of BOOKS this makes at least as much sense as, well, anything else I can think of. I’m a little bit perturbed at e-readers… I’m rather a Luddite, very late to email and cell phones but here I am with this blog and this website, don’t get me started… and I DO see the advantages, really I do. But I am adamant that the printed book is NOT dead, nor should it be, nor am I even that worried. There are just too many times a person needs a BOOK.

But where are we getting our books these days? I stay aware of this issue mostly thanks to Shelf Awareness, which as I’ve said before covers bookselling more than it does libraries, and often beyond my level of interest; but this little article really drew me. Your local book store is important! Again as mentioned by some of the booksellers interviewed, one way in which your LBS (that’s local book store in this case, although I’m more accustomed to it being local bike shop) is important, is in having rare or used books. (I shop for books almost exclusively at Half Price Books.) But the other way in which the LBS is indispensable is in personal relationships: knowing you, knowing your tastes, making recommendations. (Another crossover concept from the local bike shop.)

I want this to be a personal appeal: go shop at your local book store! But I would be a little bit of a hypocrite, you know why? I don’t shop for books much. I don’t think I’ve bought a book in ANY book store for a year! (Maybe once or twice.) I work in a library, which provides a seemingly infinite tempting array of more than I could ever read; and when I need something specific I don’t have, there’s the larger Houston Public Library system, just ready and waiting to serve me. For free. (That is if the budget cuts don’t get them. Don’t get me started.) So really, I don’t buy much from anybody. :-/

Where do you get your books?

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Challenge Update: Where Are You Reading?

Posted on January 31, 2011 by pagesofjulia

All right! One month down! Whew.

Remember the Where Are You Reading? Challenge? It’s being hosted by Sheila over at Book Journey. I’ve accepted her challenge to read a book set in each of the 50 United States, in this year of 2011. (Bonus points for foreign locations.) In a way it’s a fairly easy challenge, because every book I read counts, so in theory I don’t have to read to the challenge; but then again, I probably will have to do just that, as the year closes and I’m short on Wyoming, or what have you. As far as reading 50+ books in a year, I think I can do that safely. But ask me again in December! We shall see!

It’s been fun so far. In the past month, I’ve read 8 books, representing 4 states, and one foreign location. So, my first observation is, I’m reading in the same places repeatedly! How fun to make a point of traveling the country. Thanks Sheila for the inspiration. (She’s doing a monthly check-in, so January is wrapped up here.) So far I’ve been to Houston, Chicago twice, small-town South Dakota (Bolton is a fictional place from what I can tell – or too small to be on the maps?), and Garrison, NY, followed by three trips to London. Next I think I’m headed to Maine with Reacher, oh boy!

Below you can see my map where I’m keeping track of where I read with bright green pins. I like green. 🙂

Hang in there and you’ll see me keep on traveling around the world. Thanks for the challenge, Sheila!

Filed under: book reviews, challenges | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

book beginnings on Friday

Posted on January 28, 2011 by pagesofjulia

I shall optimistically post a Book Beginning today, in the hopes that I will soon be able to Begin a new Book.


I’m struggling with which of the four books on my desk to choose for my Next. Let’s see. There’s a Jack Reacher novel by Lee Child, Persuader (great title for Reacher, I think!), set in Maine (this is important for the sake of the Where Are You Reading? Challenge). I like Reacher very much; this is tempting. It would be “light” after this clunker nonfiction that I’m currently involved in, hm.

Next there’s The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, an oft-mentioned classic (thus good for the Classics Challenge, hm) that I’ve never read and know that I Should.

Then comes By-Line: Ernest Hemingway. This is required reading for me because I’m a huge, huge fan of Hemingway, and this is one I have NOT read – I’ve read all his novels and I THINK all his short stories although it’s hard to figure out for sure considering all the various collections; but only a few of his nonfiction. This is a collection of his journalism, and the back of the book claims that “more intimately than all his fiction, Hemingway the reporter reveals Hemingway the man.” I need it.

And finally we have The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat by Oliver Sacks. This caught my eye because Eva over at A Striped Armchair was just recently extolling the author and specifically this book. It’s sort of pop-science in a series of case studies by neurologist Sacks. I’m intrigued, all the more so by Eva’s glowing praise. I’ve discovered a handful of pop-science/medical, very readable nonfiction in recent years, like My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, and The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman. This one might be up next.

This is not a very successful book beginning post just yet. With which should I tease you, and me?

Let’s try this again.


Thanks to Katy at A Few More Pages for hosting this meme.

How to participate: Share the first line (or two) of the book you are currently reading on your blog or in the comments. Include the title and the author so we know what you’re reading. Then, if you feel so moved, let us know what your first impressions were based on that first line, and let us know if you liked or did not like the sentence.

From the first page of Lee Child’s Persuader:

“The cop climbed out of his car exactly four minutes before he got shot. He moved like he knew his fate in advance.”

This is so like Child. Everything is exact. I love it. What’s Reacher gotten himself into this time?

Thanks for bearing with my messy post this evening. 🙂 Have a lovely weekend and I’ll “see” you on Monday!

Filed under: book beginnings, book reviews | Tagged: , , | 5 Comments »

A few new books: sci fi, and a Houston Heights mystery

Posted on January 28, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Well! I know I’ve been a bit distant (and boring, since I’ve been reading the same book for what feels like weeks!) but I have some new tidbits to share.

Still very busy with my exciting Database Searching class and the rest of life, but I have cheated on Mr. Playboy and read a few other quick bits.

The other night I sat down and read my friend Amy Sisson’s Suicide Club, published in Sybil’s Garage No. 7, a collection of sci fi short stories. Now, you will recall that I do not consider myself a reader of sci fi. I actually really enjoyed Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game, which I read for a reader’s advisory class last fall; it just didn’t strike me as what I think of as sci fi. It was a story about people, relationships, morals, and worlds; it didn’t geek me out with computer bits or robots or things like that. (I’m not up for that.) Well, this is the second of Amy’s short stories I’ve read, and both have been very accessible – no geeking out, again. Maybe I need to rethink sci fi. I’m still not up for the geeky stuff, but apparently there’s more to the genre than that. Although she did point out a collection of Star Trek stories, including one of hers, that she told me I would *not* like (and I still haven’t braved it.) Amy? Any recommendations for further reading? I enjoyed Suicide Club; it gave an interesting and yes, decidedly creepy take on our future, spinning off of Fight Club. (Kind of fun along with being creepy.) I enjoyed the other worldview. Thank you Amy! 🙂

Next I began reading a short mystery I was given a few months back. It came as one of two Houston Heights historical mysteries, and they’re by a local Heights author, Anne Sloan. (For those who aren’t local, the Heights is a neighborhood in Houston, and at the time the books are set, was a suburb. It’s an artsy, historic, trendy neighborhood marked by old families in houses for generations, but also young people, dog walkers, runners, cyclists, bars, beautiful old houses, and well-maintained historical structures in general.) I’m reading the first one, called Murder on the Boulevard; next is The Apothecary’s Demise. This book is set in the 1910’s, in a time when Houston (3 miles away from the suburb of Houston Heights) is just developing; Jesse Jones is in the process of building the 18-story Rice Hotel. Times are a-changing. Our protagonist, Flora Logan, is an adamant women’s suffragist and general feminist. She falls out permanently with her father, for example, over her opinion that she should be allowed to study and pursue a career rather than aspire to marriage as her loftiest goal. Her interest in study and career is botany, and we get some good local, historical details there, too.

Flora leaves Houston for New York City after her parental conflict, and finds a more equal environment, a college degree, and a job in the Botanical Gardens there; she is called home when her father dies suddenly, and begins investigating what looks like his murder. (Given the title, perhaps we can take that for granted.) I’m maybe 3/4 through this book, and despite early misgivings, I’m enjoying myself. It should probably be said that this book is not a feat of literary accomplishment or crime novel styling, although it does adequately well at the latter. Its greater achievement is in historical detail, which here and there is a little bit too obviously wrought, but really I think we all have a weakness for our home town/city/neighborhood in fiction… I have lived in the Heights and currently live very close (in another beautiful historic neighborhood), and anyone from inner-loop Houston could appreciate the familiarity of the landmarks described and their history. It’s very enjoyable, it’s just not… poetic. It makes me want to go look at each building again with new eyes; it makes me proud to be part of this heritage.

And the mystery is developing nicely. We may have started a bit slowly with Flora’s doomed trip to the Big Thicket near Beaumont (another familiar area!) but the intrigue is fun; her characters are either likeable, or not (meaning Sloan successfully convinces us of who the villains are!), and I’m engaged in what seems to be a burgeoning romance. (Flora is an extra challenge because her feminism makes her resistant and suspicious. This is a “type” I daresay we’re all familiar with, at least in fiction, past and present.)

So with a few stumbles, I’m really liking this Houston Heights mystery. And I get to put a pin on my map for the Where Are You Reading? Challenge, too! 🙂

I’m looking forward to maybe finally finishing Mr. Playboy this weekend – I’m not bored with the book, in fact I’m still fascinated and still convinced that I was *right* that Hefner is a fascinating and contradictory guy! – but I’m a bit bored with being in one book for this long. I’m ready to move on, and I have some tasty books waiting for me in stacks on my desks (yes plural, work and home), yum. So perhaps on Monday I’ll have some new books to report on again! Til then, thanks for stopping by.

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: , | 6 Comments »

book ideas from other bloggers (thank you!)

Posted on January 26, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Well! Perhaps it is taking the easy way out, but today I feel compelled to share with you no less than THREE books I found on other blogs that I want to read.

On Reading Matters I discovered A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn. Kim describes it as “a highly intelligent literary crime novel… that brims with a slow burning anger” about apartheid, set in South Africa in the 1950’s. She makes it sound beautiful and meaningful and, well, I can’t think of a better phrase to get me interested than “intelligent literary crime novel.”

Then I came across The Crying Tree by Naseem Rakha at Jenn’s Bookshelves. This is the story of a family who loses a beloved son, and the mother’s coming to terms with his killer who is on death row; and there is some hint of mystery on top of what Jenn has shared in her review. It sounds captivating.


Finally, I read Raych’s review over at books i done read (which, by the way, is a hugely fun & hilarious blog I’ve recently discovered and really enjoy) of Black Juice by Margo Lanagan. This is a collection of short stories, about which Raych shows ambivalence, which in my opinion is wise. I’m not against short stories, collected or otherwise, but I’m… cautious. I like her, well, juicy description of these stories as “DARK and WEIRD and SAD AS HELL” (her caps, not mine) and I’m intrigued.

I guess it’s a bit odd that I read so many blogs (probably between 30 and 40) and pick up relatively few ideas for books I really want to read. (And considering my history, I may or may not get around to any of these three. I have to be a little bit fanatically interested before I actively seek out a book; there are just too many attractive options stacked up in my immediate vicinity.) So, I wanted to share these three.

Mr. Playboy is still entertaining me. 🙂 Have a lovely Wednesday and perhaps (fingers crossed) I’ll get to do a Book Beginnings post with you on Friday! Hope hope!

Filed under: book reviews | Tagged: | 2 Comments »

still enjoying Mr. Playboy

Posted on January 24, 2011 by pagesofjulia

It’s a bit odd to not have a new book to tell you about for this long, but Mr. Playboy is such a long one, and I’ve been fairly busy. It was fun to get some engaged responses to Saturday’s post; I was wondering if I might alarm anybody by discussing sex and gender 🙂 but you seem to be a tough bunch. (Or, the offended ones have departed quietly.) Today’s reading proceeded with the battle between Hefner/Playboy and the feminist/women’s lib movement. Watts more or less concludes that Hefner’s camp and the more extreme of the feminists were both a bit far-out in their positions; that nude pictures aren’t as significant a cause for good or evil as was claimed. I don’t know; I think pictures of naked women can be pretty degrading, but I don’t think Playboy does it in a terribly degrading manner. (By which I mean, they go for “pretty” over sordid, and include biographical details, and at least throw a bone towards the idea of these being People, not just bodies.) And most importantly, all the parties involved are consenting adults, and no one is forced to pose OR to look at the stupid pictures, so who cares?

I just wanted to share with you a quotation on this subject, from Joyce Carol Oates. Apparently she was asked by NOW (the National Organization for Women) to avoid boycott publishing in the magazine, which she had done a number of times. This is a somewhat lengthy quote but so professionally done I really do want to share. From page 248-9 of Mr. Playboy by Steven Watts:

I cannot claim to have much interest in the pictorial aspect of PLAYBOY, but I see no reason to focus upon certain pages and deliberately to neglect the very real presence of others. PLAYBOY has published exceptionally fine interviews in recent years (one of them with [feminist] Germaine Greer, who was allowed to be as frank and insulting and critical of PLAYBOY as she pleased), some important articles, and … some very interesting fiction. The stories of mine that appeared in PLAYBOY dealt with male/female conflicts – and in nearly every case, I dramatized the continuing cruelty of the myth of male superiority in such a way that any reader, male or whatever, should have felt some sympathy and understanding for women…

I have never published anything in any magazine on the basis of my agreeing, entirely, with every page of that magazine. In a democratic society, there must by avenues of communication in publications that appeal to a wide variety of people, otherwise writers with certain beliefs will be read only by people with those same beliefs, and change of growth would come to an end. PLAYBOY is astonishingly liberal, and even revolutionary in certain respects…

My personal belief is that worship of youth, flesh, and beauty of a limited nature is typically American and is fairly innocuous … [Y]our anger over PLAYBOY and its hedonistic philosophy is possibly misdirected.

Isn’t she classy? What a great rebuttal, in my opinion. I especially liked her point that diverse publications might get us all reading things that we DON’T agree with, gasp, and what a good idea that is. I’m certainly guilty of reading what I agree with, and I figure we mostly all are. I mean, obviously, what appeals to me is… what appeals to me. But reading the opponents’ position is generally a good idea – maybe you’ll learn something, maybe your mind will be expanded, maybe your mind will be changed ever so slightly, and if not, your own debate points will be strengthened by a familiarity with the opposition’s argument. I think a willingness to read different viewpoints shows intelligence and a comfort with one’s own views. That said, I’m not sure I do a lot of it. :-/ Do you? Do you read ideologies that you disagree with? Could be painful, but it might be brave.

Filed under: book reviews, musings | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

A complicated Saturday of Database Searching and Gender Politics

Posted on January 22, 2011 by pagesofjulia

My word, I don’t know where to begin. It’s been an eventful day.

First the announcement that I am a GEEK. I had the most FABULOUS time today at my first meeting of my Database Searching class today.

(geek)

This is a grad school class I’m taking through my MLS (Master’s of Library Science) alma mater, just for continuing education’s sake. I admit I had some stress about it (and its future impact on my life and free time) this week, but it was a really great way to spend a Saturday morning! I’m excited about the implications of database searching: its logic, the binary nature (of the computerized databases) and creative nature (of the human side: at indexing, and at searching), and our impact, as information professionals, on What The People In General Know. The two instructors in this course (who are both colleagues of mine, lucky me) are remarkable as a teaching team, which is a large part of what makes this course special. They have a really fun rapport: teasing, informal, bantering, intelligent, and expert in the fields of searching and librarianship as well as education. I don’t think I’ve ever seen team teaching done so effectively.

Then I spent several hours with my mother, who hemmed some pants for me (thanks mom, no I still don’t want my own sewing machine, you do a great job). We can never get enough time to catch up. I love you.

Then I came home and the Husband fried some chicken and I read a good bit in Mr. Playboy. (I’m sorry if you’ve been following this blog and waiting for me to move on to a new book. It’s almost 500 pages and I’m now halfway through.)

I still find Hugh Hefner a fascinating and contradictory figure. He’s obviously conflicted within himself; he rebelled against the norms of his youth, and thought he was doing everyone (including women) a great service in liberation. He really DID (I think) do some great services to a number of causes, including (fairly decisively) civil rights, as well as consumerism/materialism (questionable, but the US seems to have accepted this as a Good so who am I to argue), and abortion, divorce, and birth control – perhaps in service of Men Having Sex Freely, but I think he has a point that he’s liberated women somewhat as well. His assistance of women’s lib or women’s rights is a complicated question, though.

I might get a little personal here. Warning.

I was raised by two ardent feminists and children of the 70’s, and COMMUNISTS (omg) among other things. I’m proud of my father for being, still, the greatest male feminist I’ve ever known. My mother, though married (legally, not in a church) still carries her maiden name, as does my secular “god”-mother and two of my three aunts. I support them. When I married, I took the Husband’s name, not because I’m *not* a feminist, but because my path was paved by Karen, Susan, Janet, Laura, and countless of their contemporaries. Through their rebellion, they’ve freed my path to change my last name without feeling that I’ve given up my identity to this Man. (Who was, by the way, surprised that I wanted his name at all.) If I were married in the 1970’s I would have kept my name, I think. My mother and so many other role models have allowed me to complacently take my husband’s name and retain my Self.

So, I read about Gloria Steinem’s exposé in Show magazine of the Playboy clubs. I knew of this in a pop-culture sense: the famous feminist took an undercover position as a Bunny at the NYC club with the purpose of observing and reporting on the objectification of women there. Beware of coming in with a preconceived conclusion: as my Brother Gerber warns me about Barbara Ehrenreich’s Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, the conclusions are tarnished by the author’s preconceptions. (I LOVED this book and agree with its conclusions, but I share Gerber’s concerns about its mass appeal.) Steinem is an admirable figure. But (says Mr. Playboy by Steven Watts, page 238 and thereabouts) her fellow Bunnies argued that they were liberated, and empowered, by their employment. If sex is power, they were paid to exercise their power, in their own ways. They made money and felt that they chose their own destinies.

I once worked at a local beer bar – which will remain nameless, but my local friends will recognize it. I’m a serious beer enthusiast and have held several beer-expert jobs, and once wrote a local column on the subject. When I served beer at this bar, I wore a plaid miniskirt, knee-high socks, and Mary Janes (later Doc Martens which were also appreciated), and I was told by a manager that “We Sell Sex” which I found very offensive (I am not a prostitute!) but was true in a way. As a tomboy, this was an interesting experience.

(or maybe more like this. librarian style?)

I think I can understand a little bit what the Bunnies meant. In a way, I felt empowered, and excited, by dressing up this way and playing a role. I made some damn good money. I got to talk about beer, over the heads of the men I served. They were impressed. It was fun and profitable and empowering. I also moved on, putting on more clothes by the time I was 24 and finding a professional career well before 30. And, I did this in the 20-oughts (what are we calling those years? 2000-2010), with all the benefits earned by my mother and her contemporaries. We still experienced, and experience, sexual harassment and objectification, but our lives today are easier than my mother’s was in ways I know I can’t imagine.

I think gender politics are extraordinarily complicated. I consider myself one of the easier women I know to understand. I will tell you what I think if you ask. I don’t play any games like saying “nothing” if you ask what’s wrong, when I’m really angry; I don’t encourage the Husband to compliment women I’m jealous of and then punish him for it; I don’t make him guess. (You poor heterosexual men; I think hetero women can be cruelly complicated.) But I’m still complicated: I want to be one of the guys (and I AM a tomboy) and I mostly keep up when we play, but don’t leave me behind and defenseless either, and I want to be a Princess sometimes, too… what’s a poor guy to do? I think that I still sympathize with Hefner. I think he did a lot of good for a number of causes. I think he objectified women, and especially in his private/personal life was rather deplorable in his relationships with women. But a lot of our admirable *public* figures were not admirable private figures; he’s one of these, but not spectacularly so. (I’m a huge admirer of Hemingway. Need I say more?) His impact on Women In Society is very complicated, and that’s all I’m willing to commit to at this time.

(I am not in this picture. It's a concept representation)


I award you a prize if you’ve made it through this post. Sorry for being long-winded! But I found I had a lot to say today.

I’m off to work on our local trails tomorrow. I’ll be putting on gloves and lifting chunks of sidewalk and I still want to be sexy, and the Husband loves me and will be working alongside. Chew on that. 🙂 Enjoy your Sunday.

Filed under: book reviews, musings | Tagged: , , , | 6 Comments »

WWW Wednesdays

Posted on January 19, 2011 by pagesofjulia

Weekly meme hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading.

To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

What are you currently reading?

I’m currently reading Mr. Playboy: Hugh Hefner and the American Dream, by Steven Watts. It’s very readable nonfiction, and a subject that I’m interested in, so although it’s long, it’s going just fine.

What did you recently finish reading?

I finished Lee Child’s 61 Hours this weekend. It was great like all of his, but I found the ending to be a frustrating cliff-hanger. Guess I’ll have to read more of him…

What do you think you’ll read next?

There are always a bunch floating around in my head, but I’m feeling pretty inspired about The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas right about now. Perhaps I’ll go ahead and set it aside. Mr. Playboy shouldn’t take but a few more days.

Filed under: book reviews | 4 Comments »

« Previous Page — Next Page »