The title is a bit misleading, one would think this is a tirade against women by a loony lesbian feminist, but its not (thankfully). Its actually a moving story of a woman growing up in a very difficult enviroment in South Africa, moving on to England to find herself. She hits rock bottom but pulls herself back up again and is now living a happy life in Switzerland. And she shares this story with the reader in a very frank and humourous way.

This book is part heart renching, and at times hilariously funny biography, and part a collection of essays on what she has learnt in her life inhabiting the female form. And I guess this is where the title comes from, its basically a lesson to women not to get duped by advertisers and society into doing things that make them unhappy or uncomfortable.

Ms Adams does admit to being a feminist but of the more practical, logical, sane variety. More a Naomi Wolfe type than the man blaming, victim type. She believes women should take control of their lives and think for themselves, good advice for all I think.

There are also some hilarious and insightful anecdotes, my favourite being when she joins AA (Alcoholics Anonomous) in Germany, even though she was not even an alcoholic but was a compulsive eater. The reason being that the people in AA were more entertaining than the whinging women in the eating disorders help group. An interesting way to meet fellow English speaking ex-pats if ever I heard one, I'm even tempted to try it myself one day.

All in all a fun read and for many people they will learn a great deal about the workings of the female mind, and for women especially they could find in the author a guiding light through dark times.

I must admit that this is my first time, so please be gentle with me. Not only have I never written a book review before, but I have never read this book. However, the author has a great arse which I've been lusting after for the past seven years, so I'm hoping that a suitably sycophantic and grovelling review of her book will get me laid. It's what guys do. After you've read Penelope Adams' extremely brilliant, thought-provoking, erudite, intellectual watershed of insight into the female psyche, you will understand that this strategy will probably work. I think this book deserves a Booker Prize, if not a Nobel Prize for literature. It is absolutely the single most amazing example of literature ever written which gave me the opportunity to get laid simply by spewing forth a bunch of drivel in an emormously-public forum. After Adams, why bother with Shakespeare or Proust?



If you doubt that women are stupid, just try to imagine what type of moronic, polysyllabilic, single-celled orgasm, I mean organism, would try to fabricate a real book from such diverse topics as pants, cats, expats, Vogons, psychiatrists and trigonometry. I mean, really! Where was this fat cow during literature classes -- hiding in the book cupboard practicing her oboe techniques on the professor? Who gave this woman a licence to use a typewriter? I think she should be locked up before she ruins any chance that 95% of heterosexual males on this planet have of ever having sex again.



I think it's self-evident that any female who is truly smart enough to realize that all women are stupid would know better than to try to write a book about this boringly-obvious fact. Just think about it -- guys already KNOW that all women are stupid, so THEY won't buy the book. Duh! Women are too stupid to read an entire book without stopping to call their girlfriends to discuss the possible impact this act might have on the level of their boyfriends' (or, potential future boyfriends' if they aren't currently in the process of destroying some poor guys' lives) commitment to them and interest in immediate marriage. So, who, apart from the random sociology PhD candidate, is going to buy this book?



DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK! Women -- this book is crap. Do not UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES read it. The sex lives of about 9 billion men are put at risk by this book. It should carry a warning label.



And, yes, I love you to the very depths and innermost hidden recesses of my heart. I will ABSOLUTELY call you in the morning. I have NEVER done that with anyone else before. Really.



Douglas Adams, 21 March 2008

(NO, not THAT Douglas Adams, you moron -- the Douglas Adams who is Penelope's brother. The other Douglas Adams is dead.)



P.S. Women -- DO NOT buy this book. It is full of lies. Stay as lovely and innocent as you truly are.

Subtle, provocative, funny, desperately true and well observed! I enjoyed it a lot.