What Do Women Want?: Bread, Roses, Sex, Power

I am a great fan of Erica Jong so I couldn't miss this brilliant collection of essays. I adore her style, simple, smart, direct. Her way of depicting the female universe is sometimes incredibly moving, in other moments provocative but always shamelessly sincere. I love this book because each time you read an essay, it is somehow like discovering something new, unexpected about yourself. You are never just passively 'dragged'; you can't do without reflecting even when not necessary you identify yourself in what you read. The essays are stimulating, catchy. Among others, you will read about the immortal literary myth of Jane Eyre, Nabokov's forever young Lolita or an engaging point of view on the modern icon of Princess Diana. All the essays are different from each other, they look into different aspects of the female psyche. However, they have one umbilical cord, the meaning of which is condensed in the title. What do women want is an immersion in a vivacious stream of reflections on women's constantly evolving role in our modern society. The edition is very nice too, nice cover page and layout, good readability.

This book is more entertaining and likeable than I expected. Jong's honesty is admirable. She readily admits she didn't become pregnant till she could afford a nanny; most celebrities pretend they raised their children with no help. I liked the essay Lolita at Thirty best and also her views on Jane Eyre are very acute. Her literary criticism is the best thing in the book. Surprisingly erudite and sharp. Her essay on Anais Nin made me want to read the journals which I never have. She's at her least appealing when trying to show how wordly she is , i.e. 'My Italy' where she does an awful lot of name dropping as if all the famous people she knows validate her own imporance. Her daughter, Molly, wrote an article for Mode magazine where she related how her mother's friend, Joan Collins, called her fat. I wouldn't be surprised if Erica didn't drop Joan, for all her cruelty, simply because she's a celeb.