Are Men Necessary?: When Sexes Collide

Amazon.com

She may be smart, incisive, witty, and keenly observant but with the release of Are Men Necessary?--a series of pithy (some might say piqued) ruminations on the sexes--Maureen Dowd will never, ever be championed by guys. Not that she cares. Even those who seek to avoid her columns in the august pages of The New York Times are certain to stumble over her invective in syndication. Dowd, it often seems, is everywhere. So those seeking even more via this book should be warned: Are Men Necessary? not only asks the eponymous question; it seeks to answer it with myriad examples (some convincing, some not) drawn from the Toronto Star to Kenneth Starr, from Cosmopolitan to Condoleezza Rice. You can bet a lot of folks aren't going to relish the answer.

With hands on hips and eyes wide open, Dowd surveys gender relations in contemporary settings such as the workplace, the White House, the mall, and the media, comparing and contrasting as she goes. And while her secondary sources are endless--and, let's face it, the subject of gender inequality is not exactly new--Dowd manages to produce a fair share of bons mots. To wit, this pearl on the subject of plastic surgery and men: "I have yet to see a man come out of cosmetic surgery without looking transformed into some permanently astonished lesbian version of himself," Dowd quotes a source as saying. "It's terrifying. My friend's father had just his eyes done by the best, most highly sought-after cosmetic surgeon in New York City. And he doesn't look refreshed or well rested. He looks like he's being stabbed to death by invisible people." Dowd's generously dispersed anecdotes, though seldom as funny, are equally readable. In the end, though, one wishes Are Men Necessary? went beyond simply grocery listing examples of sexual disparity to offer concrete suggestions for change. Then again, maybe that's too great a task even for a woman like Dowd. --Kim Hughes

Book Description

Are men afraid of smart, successful women? Why did feminism fizzle? Why are so many of today's women freezing their faces and emotions in an orgy of plasticity? Is "having it all" just a cruel hoax?

In this witty and wide-ranging book, Maureen Dowd looks at the state of the sexual union, raising bold questions and examining everything from economics and politics to pop culture and the "why?" of the Y chromosome. These new writings will delight her devoted readers-and anyone trying to sort out the chaos that occurs when sexes collide.

Customer Reviews:

Is Maureen Dowd necessary? When ignorance and arrogance collide.......2007-09-11

To answer Dowd's question, one need only consider that half of all the people you know would not be alive today if it were not for the medical marvels invented by this unnecessary sex, just to look at a single area revolutionized by male creativity and ingenuity, those gifts that CANNOT be learnt parrot-fashion by the ungifted, no matter how hard they try. Let all of us who are grateful that half of our friends and family are alive and not dead express our posthumous gratitude to the men who saved us from the disaster of midwifery (50% mortality rate achieved by these Einsteins until finally men were allowed to participate, and a MAN came along, inventing the necessary equipment and techniques within decades, and teaching his life-saving techniques to these ungrateful wretches, who had only had six millennia to learn to do their job properly.) Thank you Peter Chamberlen, that every baby born feet forwards today is not condemned to die along with its mother like when women ruled midwifery. Dowd and half of her friends and family would not be with us today if these unnecessary men hadn't helped these ignorant women understand how their own bodies worked. If she would gladly accept the loss of all these people from her life, then I fully respect her decision that men are not necessary. If however, she has gladly made use of the medical wonders, from childcare to cancer treatment, that exist only through the genius of the male sex, then I call her an ungrateful, female chauvinist pig of the lowest kind, whose drivel can only be of appeal to those in a similar IQ range. Go away and make room for someone with something useful to say. And see how many days you can get by without making use of any inventions created by the unnecessary sex. I promise to do the same with female inventions.

Is ANYONE Necessary?.......2007-09-02

That's a totally irrelevant question and book title. No one is necessary; because God made man and woman for his own pleasure and desire. We're here because God wanted us here. Plain and simple. Secondly, women would not exist on the earth without men. No women ever born on the earth got here without a man. The first person on earth was a man and everyone else came from him.

A interesting title and lots of real good information.......2007-09-01

I listen to the book on DVDs. The author is a well know columnist. Her insighted to famous and infamous people of our world is very interesting.

She has to be a real woman, who enjoys being a woman and her wit and insight is very enlightening to all who read this intriguing collections of observations.

A must read for women of all ages, it tell the tale of wanting something and then when we have it the repercussions of having is not all that good.

"new" doesn't always mean new.......2007-07-31

Even though I ordered the item "New" from amazon, the book was obviously used, with wear on the binding.

She needs to get...a better love life.......2007-05-27

To quote Ms. Dowd, "if a man writes a scathing piece...no one accuses him of hostility toward men. If a woman writes the same scathing piece" people suggest that her criticism is a reflection of some psyschological problem. She is better about men. "She needs to get...a better love life."

I looked forward to Dowd's first real book, having read her columns for the past several years. Unfortunately, you can't help but believe that Dowd's tone and perspective are heavily influenced by the fact that she is an accomplished, attractive, 50 year old woman, still looking for a date!

The book is fun to read and funny as well, though at times the reader is wondering what the actual point or purpose of the book is. Is it criticism of male-female relations? Is it satire of modern sex? Or is it Ms. Dowd's medium for venting her frustration??

Its hard to really find the point of the book, which at times reads more like a bold-faced names Social column than the work of a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. Dowd seems to quote only her friends in journalism when supporting her points and whatever TV shows she's happened to watch (Seinfeld and Sex and the City, for instance).

While the book is fun and amusing, I can't say I walked away having learned anything or having gained a greater appreciation for male-female relationships.

Understanding Women: The Definitive Guide to Meeting, Dating and Dumping, if Necessary

Average customer rating:

A womens point of view is the best
Great Advice!
Great book on dating
An idiot's guide on women.
The only guide you'll need to "understand women".

Understanding Women: The Definitive Guide to Meeting, Dating and Dumping, if Necessary
Romy Miller
Manufacturer: The Book Factory
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1932420207

Book Description

Romy Miller is a woman. She understands women. Now she's going to help you do the same. Understanding Women: The Definitive Guide to Meeting, Dating and Dumping, if Necessary will turn you into a dating machine and help you go from loser to lover in no time flat. Taking an in-your-face approach, this book leaves no excuses for you to not only succeed with women but to understand them as well. If this book doesn't do the trick, nothing will.

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Customer Reviews:

A womens point of view is the best.......2007-09-09

this is the only way to go. A femaale author is the only way to understand what a women really wants out of a man. Rory really nails this one. Great job Rory!!

Great Advice!.......2007-08-25

This book is a must have for every man who wants to have success with women. Another new bestseller which I highly recommend - The Exclusive Layguide: When Dating and Having Sex with Incredibly Hot Women is No Longer Mirage Even If You Don't Look Like a Model or Don't Make a Fortune

Fascinating books!

Great book on dating.......2007-03-16

This book is great. I have more success now with women !!

An idiot's guide on women. .......2006-09-17

Here is something most of us need in order to be successful with our girlfriends: a woman's advice. The advantage is that this advice comes in form of a little book that is easy to understand because it is written for the ignorant idiots that we are. The author, Romy Miller, covers literally all aspects on women and on us dating a woman that we ought to know. The style is easy and direct. You literally read the book in a few hours and change your whole attitude forever. It does answer all questions on women that you may have.

A small critique might be in the fact that this woman writes from her own perspective and thus it may seem that the advice that she gives is somewhat self-centred around her own experience. This said, the author is a woman who dates men and what she says and in the way that she says it is very convincing. Some of you might have stumbled on how-to-become-an-alpha-male or how-to-get-laid-in-one-night guides and interestingly, this book does not directly disagree with these techniques. However, after reading this book you have a clear reference of what is important when dating women: being a gentleman. Now most of us have an idea of this should be and you may not agree with all that she says, however, you at least have a staring point of really becoming a man's man.

Thus five stars are awarded for this book, as it has made a real difference in the way that I approach women and out of all the other books, advice and writings that I have received in the past, this one has been the most effective by far for me. Let me know if you agree :-)

The only guide you'll need to "understand women"........2006-09-13

"Understanding Women" is a thorough guide to helping the Average Joe get inside a woman's head and figure out what she's thinking. This helps not only with those times you wonder what to do next, but how to do it. It concentrates on the whole man, giving tips throughout how to better your game and score with women. Many chapters, however, do concentrate on the way a woman's mind works, which might be the biggest job any guy has.

The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is As Necessary As Love and Sex

Average customer rating:

Good analysis, somewhat redundant, but incisive.
right on the money
Justifying male violence? even though he abhors it
Interesting layperson read - not a good justification
"Necessary" from the POV of the genes...

The Dangerous Passion: Why Jealousy Is As Necessary As Love and Sex
David M. Buss
Manufacturer: Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684850818

Amazon.com

If you think that jealousy is simply a neurosis or merely a manifestation of insecurity, then reading David Buss's The Dangerous Passion may change your opinion. Buss asserts that jealousy is an adaptive behavior, albeit an imperfect one, which helped our human ancestors cope with reproductive threats. Buss uses examples from insect and primate populations, as well as Hollywood, to help illustrate the evolutionary concepts discussed. Building on his previous book, The Evolution of Desire, on the gender differences in mate selection, Buss argues for a coevolutionary cycle based on concealment and detection (jealousy) between the genders in their drive to optimize reproductive success.

Although pathological aspects of jealousy--battering, stalking, and killing--are argued to be the result of adaptive responses, they are in no way defended as acceptable or natural behavior. Buss indicates that it is his hope that by understanding the forces that shaped jealousy we can better cope with its effects--positive or negative. --Irwin S. Hirsh

Book Description

Why do men and women cheat on each other? How do men really feel when their partners have sex with other men? What worries women more -- men who turn to other women for love or men who simply want sexual variety in their lives? Can the jealousy husbands and wives experience over real or imagined infidelities be cured? Should it be? In this surprising and engaging exploration of men's and women's darker passions, David Buss, acclaimed author of The Evolution of Desire, reveals that both men and women are actually designed for jealousy. Drawing on experiments, surveys, and interviews conducted in thirty-seven countries on six continents, as well as insights from recent discoveries in biology, anthropology, and psychology, Buss discovers that the evolutionary origins of our sexual desires still shape our passions today.

According to Buss, more men than women want to have sex with multiple partners. Furthermore, women who cheat on their husbands do so when they are most likely to conceive, but have sex with their spouses when they are least likely to conceive. These findings show that evolutionary tendencies to acquire better genes through different partners still lurk beneath modern sexual behavior. To counteract these desires to stray -- and to strengthen the bonds between partners -- jealousy evolved as an early detection system of infidelity in the ancient and mysterious ritual of mating.

Buss takes us on a fascinating journey through many cultures, from pre-historic to the present, to show the profound evolutionary effect jealousy has had on all of us. Only with a healthy balance of jealousy and trust can we be certain of a mate's commitment, devotion, and true love.

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Why do husbands and wives stray? Are we born polygamous or do we become unfaithful as we age? Do men and women experience jealousy differently? Which is more threatening: sexual or emotional infidelity? In The Dangerous Passion evolutionary psychologist David Buss zooms in on men's and women's different sexual cues and styles -- and the strong emotions they trigger -- as he explains why we get together and stay together, against all odds.

Backing his opinions with the most comprehensive survey ever undertaken (in thirty-seven countries on six continents), case studies, and the latest scientific discoveries from psychology, anthropology, and archaeology, Buss explains why men and women usually misread each other's desires and passions. And he shows how although jealousy, at its extreme, is a volatile emotion that can cause violence, even death, its absence leaves couples emotionally and sexually adrift. Nature has made sure, Buss concludes, that only with a healthy balance of jealousy and trust can we feel certain of our mate's love, commitment, and devotion.

Customer Reviews:

Good analysis, somewhat redundant, but incisive........2004-10-16

I don't know which book was written first, but this book features a bit of conceptual overlap with his other book, "The Evolution Of Desire." Additionally, Buss seems to like to sometimes pad his writing by overexplaining certain concepts, overexpounding, and/or repeating himself. I get the feeling at times he is trying to fill out the book.

Having got that out of the way, I still believe he is an excellent author. I am pleased to read an author who has the gall to resist the tide of political correctness which infects most pop psychologists, and who instead writes from a flatly evolutionary, analytical standpoint. His focus on the historical development of our animalistic tendencies, needs, and wants, is often quite incisive. His observations, both in this book and the one mentioned above, seem quite intuititive to me.

I particularly enjoy the way he often legitimizes his viewpoints by backing them up with cross-cultural evidence, especially when he references some of the bizarre and brutal practices which take place in primitive cultures. His statistics prevent the reader from coming to suspect that he is just some lazy, armchair pseudointellectual psychologist who is merely sitting around chewing on a pipe, theorizing and abstracting--it reminds us that he is a scientist who has done his homework. Given the controversial nature of some of these concepts, I believe he knew this practice was necessary.

Once again, intuitive writing. I can scarcely recall a concept from either book which I flatly disagreed with. When you're talking about jealousy in primitive cultures, you're talking jealousy latent in first world humans as well. You are talking about pervasive commonalities in human nature, thus you're talking about animal nature. And if you're talking about animal nature, a good scientist can pinpoint it. Buss is that scientist for jealousy and desire. I just wish he wouldn't apologize for some of his more controversial viewpoints on topics like the causes of battery and rape. Yeah, they're terrible things, but any person whose title ends in "-ologist" ought never have to apologize for thinking through problems, even if the outcome is cold, scientific, or unpopular.

One warning, if you enjoy the delusion of Snow White or Rapunzel type crap, this man will smash it for you. I personally am addicted to books such as this one, books which tinker with the workings of the mind, and the preconceptions of human nature. If you're like me and you don't really mind having your love life reduced to a negotiation between survival resources and reproductive value, if you prefer the truth inherent in evolutionary logic to storybook self-deceptions, then you ought to have this man's work on your shelf.

Let's face it, the Storybook people eventually get hit by a truck driven by themselves anyway.

right on the money.......2002-11-17

I first ordered this book to help me overcome jealousy. When I first started reading it, I soon found out the book explains jealousy and why it exists, rather than teaching you how to overcome it. I learned that my jealous feelings were somewhat justified, and normal. This book was painfully truthful: it hit the nail on the head in regards to me marrital situation at the time.

Justifying male violence? even though he abhors it.......2001-09-13

I recently read 'The Red Queen' and 'Why is Sex Fun?' and I was disappointed in both with their justifications of sexual behaviour as evolutionarily driven. These book suggest that sex is fun to make sure we keep having it, and thus perpetuate the species. And male and female sexual behaviour is justified (if it needs it) so that individuals can promote their own specific genetic material. This is all back-to-front to me - we are here because sex is fun (well, partly - it may be that we would have been here anyway, there is no way of knowing, but the fact that other species are here when 'fun' is not a concept we expect them to experience suggests 'fun' is not necessarily a primary requirement). To me it seems that our individual behaviour is for our individual pleasure (which extends beyond our bodies and in extreme cases maybe in exclusion to our bodies).

There is a 'law' of science called Occam's Razor - the simplest explanation is to be preferred over more complex ones. On page 123 Mr Buss explains the EHMT proposal to explain why jealousy (or more exactly infidelity - this book is almost exclusively about infidelity - not jealousy) sometimes leads to homicide. EHMT clearly fails Occam's Razor, as does the opposing theory called 'slip-ups'. It's simple to me. When people have pleasures withdrawn they get angry and anger sometimes leads to violence which sometimes leads to homicide. There is no need to propose elaborate theories to justify a particular proposal that our behaviour is an evolutionary function which controls our lives. Mr Buss ends up abhorring male violence but at the same time explains it is something that the individual can do nothing about - it's in their genes.

I wonder if this evolutionary theory for behaviour is a hangover from the time when we had to have a conscious planner as creator - God. A power that put purpose into every aspect of our existence. I have no trouble with God, but do not see any need for there to be a creator who designed every feature of our existence, which would include things like disease.

I much prefer to think that people act on the basis of threats to themselves rather than threats to their potential offspring.
Here are a few other points that I felt aggrieved with about the message proposed in this book:
Children are seen to be vital - the continuing of your dna into the next generation - but some parents abandon children, and parents of adopted and assisted-fertilisation children love their children as much as natural children
Far too often there are statements following a couple of anecdotes like 'These two anecdotes, of course, do not add up to scientific evidence.' (p166) I'm sure the average reader will be swayed nevertheless.

My view of this book is almost entirely negative and I hope I have shared some of my reasons with you so that you can avoid a disappointment. If you disagree with what I have written, go ahead and read the book - you may find it useful.

Interesting layperson read - not a good justification.......2000-11-09

An interesting look at why we are jealous from an evolutionary perspective. Find out why jealousy is necessary for reproductive success for both genders. How do men and women differently express their jealousy? Why are some of us more jealous than others? And why does jealousy vary from relationship to relationship?

This book does a good job at developing a theoretical framework for jealousy, and it also gives you tools to evaluate the possible biological causation of your possessiveness in relationship. I feel that this is where its biggest strength for me lies, as it allows me to think further and transcend the way my genes have evolved.

My only qualm with this book is that is dances the line of positive and normative science, going a bit too far to justify jealousy with evolutionary accounts. Don't let the naturalistic fallacy convince you that this sort of ugly behavior is okay.

"Necessary" from the POV of the genes..........2000-10-23

Jealousy exists, like love and sex, to help propagate an individual's genes. It is a mechanism of the species to help insure for males paternity, and for females that their offspring receive the benefit of male protection, support and guidance. Jealousy is not "necessary" (as the subtitle disinformationally suggests) in the same sense that sex per se is necessary; nor is it an emotion, like love, that we might want to retain, had we our druthers. Jealousy is the emotional downside of the sexual/reproductive strategies employed by humans. It is "necessary" in the same sense (although not to the same degree) that pain is necessary. Furthermore, in the environment we now find ourselves, as opposed to the prehistoric savannahs in which the mechanism of jealousy proved adaptive, it is unnecessary, and something we might want to understand and come to grips with in an attempt to lessen its hold on us.

But what this book is really about is infidelity, how and why it occurs, and what can be done to forestall it. In this context, jealousy (not envy which is directed at somebody who has something we want) is seen as an adaptive mechanism to protect the individual against a straying partner, either through heightened awareness or through inducing threats of reprisal, or through actual punishment of the infidel. Buss, a psychologist and author of the college text, Evolutionary Psychology: The New Science of the Mind, uses case histories from our culture and others and the results of personality inventories laced with humor to illustrate how the experience of jealousy leads to "mate guarding" and "mate retention tactics" that help the individual secure his or her position in the "mating market." As such jealousy is seen as a "signal" to both one's self (awakening one to the imminent danger of infidelity) and to one's partner (as a warning that one is on to the other's tricks). Consequently, Buss defines jealousy (p. 196) as "an adaptive signal of an impending threat to a primary love relationship." Included in this view is the understanding that infidelity, painful as it is, is a normal human behavior practiced by "as many as half of all married individuals."

The style here is easy and accessible to a wide range of readers. The material is light-hearted (inasmuch as such a serious subject can be) but without any pasting-over of the dangers of jealousy. Underpinning the exposition is a thorough knowledge of human sexuality as derived from biology and evolutionary psychology. Buss not only knows what he is talking about, but imparts the information in a manner that, chapter by chapter, leads the reader to a deep and satisfying understanding of infidelity and the mechanism of jealousy.

Along the way we learn some unsettling facts. For example, marital happiness has no effect on the instance of male infidelity. "In fact, 56 percent of the men who were having affairs judged their marriage to be very happy" (p. 146). Or that women pursue a sexual strategy including a "desire to stray" that "exists today solely because that's what benefitted ancestral women" (p. 159). We also learn which type of personality is likely to stray (pp. 148-151) and that the more attractive partners ("those...higher in mate value") are more likely to cheat (p. 143). Also interesting is the semi-obvious observation that women can attract a higher-ranked male on a one-night stand than as a husband (and so might), and that men will stoop to lower-ranked females for pure sex than those they choose for wives.

Buss devotes the last two chapters to coping mechanisms. He concludes with the fine observation that "knowledge...of our dangerous passions...will, in some small measure, give us the emotional wisdom to deal with them." This observation is what evolutionary psychology is all about, and why it is the emergent psychology of the twenty-first century.

Best joke (p. 185): At a therapist's gathering with a straying husband, his wife and the other woman, the wife informs the affairee that she is still sleeping with her husband, and that he has lied to both of them. "The affairee felt betrayed and stalked out, saying...that all men betray their wives, but only a real asshole would betray his girlfriend." Buss adds, "Therapy was unsuccessful in this case."

Average customer rating:

A conversation starter

Ahhh... the sexual revolution--30 years early!

What a romp!

Is Sex Necessary?: Or Why You Feel the Way You Do
James Thurber , and E. B. White
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Fables for Our Time (Harper Colophon Books, Cn/999)

ASIN: 0060733144
Release Date: 2004-11-09

Book Description

The first book of prose published by either James Thurber or E. B. White, Is Sex Necessary? combines the humor and genius of both authors to examine those great mysteries of life -- romance, love, and marriage. A masterpiece of drollery, this 75th Anniversary Edition stands the test of time with its sidesplitting spoof of men, women, and psychologists; more than fifty funny illustrations by Thurber; and a new foreword by John Updike.

Customer Reviews:

A conversation starter.......2005-12-21

There's no need to actually read this book if you're a male.

Simply carry it around, and you will find yourself approached by a wide variety of women who are amused and perhaps a bit threatened by the title.

Many of them will be interested in showing you the positive response to the question posed by the book's title.

It's quite astonishing, really. You have to try it to believe the results. Good luck.

Ahhh... the sexual revolution--30 years early!.......2004-07-06

You've probably heard of E.B. White--he wrote "Charlotte's Web" after all, quite possibly still required reading in many middle schools (as a lead-in to 2pac Shakur's poetry, I'm sure). James Thurber may be a bit more obscure to some of you, but he was an Ohio State alumnus (go Buckeyes! *cough*), an awesome cartoonist/artist, and an author possessed of a wonderfully ascerbic wit.

The combination of the two in this book is a rather uniquely bizarre experience that I found joyously uplifting.

The subject under discussion is indeed, in a rather obscure and indirect sense, sex. But we never *quite* seem to get there; non sequiturs abound, blank pages, discussions of how to avoid sex, bluebirds, flowers, a section on how children should explain sex to adults, and even a "letters from readers" chapter--but no actual sex. Lots of drawings, but nothing that anyone might find helpful for improving their sex life. (Bowling, yes. Bicycling, definitely. Obscure interpretations of unconscious artwork, absolutely. Sex, no.)

This book wasn't so much a reaction to Freud per se as it was to the wacky influx of psychologists and "sexologists", and their (unfortunately for us, entirely successful) attempts to complexify and obfuscate human behavior. This particular brand of snake oil started in the 20s and hasn't stopped flowing, and we're covered in an ever-growing deluge of how-to relationship manuals, self-help books, and other ludicrous efforts at explaining "the human condition".

White and Thurber's work explains, in the main, nothing. It asks more questions than it answers. The humor is dry and obscure, there are a ton of rather dated references, and if you're under 30 you'll probably need a dictionary. But...

if you need a laugh without a laugh track... you're fed up with "self-help" and "Men are from Saturn, Women are from Liverpool" type books... or you happen to think sex is vastly overrated (it is), give "Is Sex Necessary?" a try. You might be surprised at the answer.

What a romp!.......1999-09-27

Thurber's and White's text satirizing the hullabaloo that our dearest lunatic, Mr. Sigmund Freud, began takes whatever cake is being handed out for satirical writing. It's universally funny, lucid, and did I mention funny? It's hilarious. One should pull out one's thesaurus at this point to find other such words, and all will be a propos. The book should have been a trilogy.

A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, and the Tennis Match That Leveled the Game

Average customer rating:

the best about a great person, and tennis player
Goes A Bit Off Track
THE MATCH and how it changed the world
GREAT BOOK ABOUT A GREAT LEGEND!
A necessary read!

A Necessary Spectacle: Billie Jean King, Bobby Riggs, and the Tennis Match That Leveled the Game
Selena Roberts
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1400051460
Release Date: 2005-08-16

Book Description

Billie Jean King didn’t want to play Bobby Riggs. He baited and begged her for months while she ignored his catcalls and challenges. But after Margaret Court’s ignominious defeat in the so-called Mother’s Day Massacre, Billie knew what she had to do despite the personal and professional risks: take on the self-proclaimed male chauvinist pig and slay the myths about women and weakness. And so it was that King’s acquiescence led to the Battle of the Sexes, one of the most wildly surreal moments of the decadent 1970s. The worldwide event, showcasing three sets of tennis in a raucous Houston Astrodome, forever changed the social landscape for women.

In A Necessary Spectacle, Selena Roberts, one of the country’s finest sportswriters and the only female sports columnist in the New York Times’ history, has created a masterful and entertaining journey through the 1970s and beyond, capturing the color and passion, tackiness and anger, prejudice and progress of an American culture in transition. At the heart of the story lies the intersection of two complex characters: Billie Jean King, the daughter of a homemaker and a firefighter who grew up in the Norman Rockwell tradition of the 1950s; and Bobby Riggs, the gambling son of a fundamentalist minister who won everlasting fame as a card-carrying sexist—not because he believed women to be inferior, but because he craved attention.

Roberts enjoyed unprecedented access to the characters in this story, including numerous in-depth interviews with Billie Jean King and her former husband, Larry, as well as the friends and family of Bobby Riggs, who died in 1995. Essential details and insights also were provided through hours of conversation with key figures in the women’s rights movement and Title IX fight, including Gloria Steinem and Donna de Varona, and with tennis legends of the 1970s, such as Chris Evert, Margaret Court, Rosie Casals, and others. This book reveals the outsize personalities of Billie and Bobby; the intensity and intricacy of the Kings’ longtime marriage; the simmering social revolution that pitted chauvinists against feminists and tennis players against each other; and a wrenching coming-out story recounted in intimate detail by Billie Jean King for the first time. By the end of the book, Roberts has traced the cultural continuum of Billie and Bobby’s night at the Astrodome. She relates its significance to the day Richard Williams began hitting bald tennis balls to his pigtailed daughters, Venus and Serena; to the glorious afternoon when more than 90,000 fans watched as the U.S. women’s soccer team won the 1999 World Cup; and, ultimately, to the present day’s second-generation battle to keep Title IX alive. The book’s poignant last scene between Billie and Bobby serves to remind us how much of an effect that 1973 match—and the passion it fueled for change—continues to have on American society, showing how necessary it was, and how necessary it remains.

1973. The Battle of the Sexes.

It was the match that changed everything. In this riveting book by New York Times sports columnist Selena Roberts, the whole spectacle returns, larger than life and more important than ever. This story reaches beyond two outsize and utterly fascinating personalities who emerged during a simmering social revolution that pitted chauvinists against feminists. It also chronicles the complex, longtime marriage of Billie Jean and Larry King; the cavalcade of issues that rocked the 1970s, from equal pay to abortion rights; and a wrenching coming-out story recounted in intimate detail by Billie Jean King for the first time.

Customer Reviews:

the best about a great person, and tennis player.......2006-06-18

she changed the world that nite. read this to know how.

Goes A Bit Off Track.......2006-04-25

Some interesting archaeology about the now nearly forgotten King-Riggs tennis match. Roberts, of the NYT, brings to life how important this thing seemed at the time, even though it all looks decidedly quaint today. Where the author goes off is when she tries to relate this to the federal Title 9 law on equality for women in sports. It's a bit forced, even if valid. Perhaps it's the book's herky-jerky structure that is just not nuanced enough to make this work. She also includes some interesting background about the Williams sisters, the relevance being that they later reaped what Billie Jean King sowed, financially. Maybe so. In the end, Riggs comes off more sympathetic than pathetic, and King is a bit too deified. Still, this is some high quality social history about an episode whose effects still have an echo.

THE MATCH and how it changed the world.......2005-09-14

The subtitle of this book 'the Tennis Match that Leveled the Game' isn't quite strong enough. This single match, called the 'Battle of the Sexes' was far, far more than a tennis match, and the aftereffect was far, far more than levelling the tennis game.

For a tennis standpoint, before The Match womens tennis was not a serious sport. The women played, but almost by themselves. The money, the sponsors, television, the fame wasn't there. After it was all there.

From a legal standpoint, The Match put power behind Title IX that required equal funding in schools for men and womens atheletic programs. From the overall women's rights viewpoint The Match was in 1973, so was Row v. Wade.

Ms. Roberts is a sports columnist. This training gives her a newspaper like writing style that is very well suited to the subject she is covering here. The book reads almost like a novel, an excellent novel but also conveys the impact of The Match that changed women's sports forever.

GREAT BOOK ABOUT A GREAT LEGEND!.......2005-08-27

I'VE FOLLOWED BJK'S CAREER SINCE SHE WON HER 1ST WIMBLEDON TITLE IN 1961! THIS BOOK GIVES YOU A VERY CANDID LOOK INTO THE LIFE OF THIS GREAT TENNIS LEGEND, THE STUGGLES SHE FOUGHT BOTH PERSONAL & PUBLIC.
INTERSTING DETAILS ON THE BATTLE OF THE SEXES WITH BOBBY RIGGS AND HIS LIFE.
AN EASY ENJOYABLE READ FOR ANYONE, BUT ESP. FOR TENNIS FANS FROM THE 60'S70'S ON!

A necessary read!.......2005-08-27

I loved this book! I'm not a huge tennis fan so as I began reading, I was shocked at how quickly this story pulled me in and kept me fascinated. It's about so much more than tennis. The personalities and motivations of Billie Jean and Bobby were so thoroughly explored that as this spectacle of a match was becoming imminent, I could feel the pressure and the tension that must have been felt not only by them, but by many women and men in the 1970s as gender lines were being tested. This book did a great job of framing the importance of that one event, as circus-like as it was. Billie Jean and Bobby brought discussions of gender roles into people's living rooms that day and the consequences have paved the way for women and for the athletes we cheer on today. "A Necessary Spectacle" gave me new insight. Excellent!

Average customer rating:

The Dangerous Passion (Why Jealousy is as Necessary as Love and Sex)

Manufacturer: The Free Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0965013472

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IS SEX NECESSARY

Manufacturer: DELL
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000E1ZTPG

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Are Men Necessary When Sexes Collide
Maureen Dowd
Manufacturer: PUTNAMS G P & SONS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000TXG0H0

Average customer rating:

Provocative.... and very engaging

THE DANGEROUS PASSION: WHY JEALOUSY IS AS NECESSARY AS LOVE AND SEX
DAVID M. BUSS
Manufacturer: BLOOMSBURY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Neuropsychology | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Psychoanalysis | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0747539154

Customer Reviews:

Provocative.... and very engaging.......2006-05-02

David Buss is an excellent author and scholar in the area of evolutionary biology. This book takes a lot of work he has already done and presents it in a way that explains jealousy that is plausible in terms of evolutionary logic.

The heart of this author's theory is a model of human sexuality where each sex pursues both a long term and short term mating strategy. In general, males are looking to maximize mating opportunities because they don't have much risk if they participate in short term mating. This behavior increases their chances of passing their genes on.

According to Buss, women also pursue a short term strategy, but this involves coupling with higher status males more selectively. This is because a possible pregnancy represents more risk to a primitive woman. Her long term strategy involves an ongoing relationship with a male who will provide steady resources, but may not have genes that are top notch.

In short, women can maximize their chances of passing on their genes, procuring the best genes and surviving by having a steady partner and cheating with a higher status male. This male would be available to provide resources in the event her lover got killed on a hunt or possibly during times of famine.

Because a woman always knows that a baby is her own, she is more concerned with emotional infidelity because it represents a risk that she might be abandoned or resources might be diverted to another woman. In the case of a man, he can not be sure he is the father, so he is more concerned with sexual fidelity. This dynamic sets up a scenario where jealousy plays a complex role at increasing attraction, longing, etc.

A lot of the material in this book is the same as in the "Evolution of Desire." That is partly why I rated this book a four. I also think it isn't as well thought out or presented as the "Evolution of Desire."

I would definitely buy this book again, but I don't think it takes the full complexity of the phenomenon of jealousy into account. For this, I would complement this book with "Your Erotic Mind" by Jack Morin. From there, I would see where you wanted to branch out to get a more integral view.

I don't think Evolutionary Biology fully explains the phenomenon of jealousy, but it certainly sheds light on some important human tendencies. "Your Erotic Mind" starts where this book leaves off and gives a more well-rounded view.

Average customer rating:

a good satire

Es Necesario El Sexo?/Is Sex Necessary?
James Thurber , and E. B. White
Manufacturer: Editorial Anagrama
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Love, Sex & Marriage | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Satire, General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Spanish | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Customer Reviews:

a good satire.......2002-04-13

Who would guess that E.B. White of Charlotte's Web fame would team up with James Thurber to write a spoof of the sex guides that were published during the "sexual revolution." The satire is excellent -- reminiscent of Twain. Though this book is hard to find, it's worth searching out for a quick read. They just don't write books like this anymore. Thurber's drawings are very funny, as is the writing all the way through.

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