Nymph Othr Maniacs

Sadly out of print, "The Nympho and Other Maniacs" is more than just a sleazy look at historical tramps. If you can get your hands on a copy, ignore the stares and raised eyebrows. Irving Wallace looks at women who for whatever the reason were considered outside of the norm from their times. Yes, females who exert their power through sex are discussed. Pauline Bonaparte and the courtesan known as Ninon are two examples. The imfamous ancestress of the former Ambassador Pamela Churchill Harriman, the Honorable Jane Digby and her adventures is a particularly interesting chapter, making the reader race for the biography section of the local bookstore or library to learn more about a women who enchanted men up until her death.But sex is not the only mania covered. The latter chapters cover little remember figures such as Anne Royall (placed on trial for being a scold), Victoria Woodhull (the imfamous financial "wizard" who was accused of prostitution and ran for President before women had the vote) and the woman who spent her life trying to prove William Shakespeare was only a cover for writers such as Francis Bacon and William Spenser.Once you'll finished "The Nympho and Other Maniacs", you'll be longing to find out even more about these intriguing women.

I have this book in my library and read it 3 times already. Being a woman I am interested in the lives of other women, especially famous ones who I can live thru surreptitiously only because Mr. Wallace is that good an author. Each life is well researched, but short and to mention a few Aspasia, Lais,Cleopatra, Heloise, Lady Hamilton,Claire Clairmont and Caroline Lamb. The title is deceiving because it is a factual history of these women not merely the author's opinion of a psychosis they had in common and I feel the writer used it to lure a portential buyer or reader as it did me. I only bought it after I skimmed thru it. He is, after all an author of many novels - not a psychiatrist. This volume is well written; a fascinating read and makes a reader want to learn more about these women and their contemporaries. I don't feel it got the credit it deserved when it was first published in 1971.ERIN MARIE SULLIVAN