Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/3/84; site enmasse.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!prls!amdimage!amdcad!amd!vecpyr!lll-crg!seismo!harvard!talcott!panda!enmasse!nancy From: nancy@enmasse.UUCP (Nancy Werlin) Newsgroups: net.books,net.singles Subject: Re: New book for single women Message-ID: <449@enmasse.UUCP> Date: Fri, 16-Aug-85 10:31:25 EDT Article-I.D.: enmasse.449 Posted: Fri Aug 16 10:31:25 1985 Date-Received: Tue, 20-Aug-85 03:56:54 EDT References: <465@moncol.UUCP> Organization: Enmasse Computer Corp., Acton, Mass. Lines: 56 Xref: linus net.books:2086 net.singles:7747 > HOW TO FIND A HUSBAND IN THIRTY DAYS > > Have any of the women out there bought this book yet and, if so, what did > you think of it? > > John Ruschmeyer Mr. Rushmeyer asks: "As an eligible male, should I buy this for some of my women friends?" Well, I didn't *buy* the book (let's be real), but I certainly picked it up off the store shelf and *read* it (nobody bothers you in Barnes & Noble and I don't have any compunction about cheating this particular author out of her royalties). My opinion: Yes, absolutely. Buy this book for your women friends if you think they are so sick of being single that they are willing to marry anyone; and if you (as an eligible man) are willing to marry a woman who wants you only for that reason. HOW TO FIND A HUSBAND IN THIRTY DAYS is about the hunt, sighting, and capture of the animal "eligible man." You begin by making yourself as attractive as possible, first by taking a little quiz to find the areas that need improvement: "When was the last time you shaved your legs? Men love shaved, lotioned legs." "How frequently do you have facials?" "Lose that ten pounds!" Then you take the author's advice and beef up (and I use the verb advisedly) those areas in which you are lacking. What you might call baiting the hook, or setting the trap. Next, you figure out where all the single men are. More quizzes: "What did you do last Saturday night? 10 points if you had a date! Nothing if you stayed home! 5 points if you went to a movie by yourself! 3 points if you went out with a girlfriend!" You put together a plan for finding an eligible man, and then you execute it coldbloodedly. I'll skip the details (they're nothing new; indeed, they're ancient); what I want to stress is the fact that this book places the titular above the reality: a "husband" is the goal and the man behind the title is perceived as an unimportant detail. There is no discussion (even as a by-the-way) of things like trust, respect, liking, love, humor, (and this may surprise you) and a warm sexual relationship as important aspects of a marriage-bound relationship. (Sex, in fact, is seen merely as more bait: "No man marries a woman he hasn't slept with.") Indeed, there is no concept of a *developing* relationship at all; no realization that a good marriage (in my opinion anyway) is founded on qualities like those I mentioned above, all of which take *time* to solidify. In the world of this book, the woman who grabs a man in the shortest period of time wins. The author makes no mention of the fact that in the long run, this woman is very likely to lose. And so, equally, will the man she marries. (Although frankly, I can't help thinking that such a man would be a blind fool to have fallen for it at all. Then again, this trap is nothing new...it *does* work...) Nancy Werlin EnMasse Computer Corp. Acton, MA