Falling over backwards, but a lot about books (A Round-Heeled Woman - Jane Juska)

Member Name: slinkyindieninja

Product:	A Round-Heeled Woman - Jane Juska
Date:	17/09/08 (53 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautifully written, enjoyable, quite short

Disadvantages: Marketed wrong

This is the memoir of Jane Juska's experiences after she placed a personal ad in The New York Review of Books that read as follows: "Before I turn 67 - next March - I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me." Round-heeled is old slang for promiscuous - think about it, if your heels were round, you'd always be falling over backwards!

It has been marketed very much as a sex memoir, which is a shame as it is the romantic and sexual elements of Juska's story which are the most disappointing. Juska's adventures with men are the least compelling elements of her story. It's beautifully written, interesting, and emotionally involving, but any excitement I felt about Juska's love life was dwarfed by the other stories she tells. I was most interested in and found the most memorable her experiences teaching creative writing to men in a prison, and in New York City. The centre of the book is the story of her quest for good sex, and later, love, but her past, her memories, the rest of her life is much more interesting. It is a shame she could not have focused on these things. I think it is better to read if you expect it to be a book about books, life and sex, rather than just sex and romance.

The book is not a long read (288 pages) and some parts go faster than others. The pace is varied because some parts are more thoughtful whilst others are mostly action and dialogue.

Summary: Seems more about books than sex!