supercheesegirl

Okay, I'm not going to finish this book. It's really annoying. I am halfway through the second chapter and I am so sick of the author's writing that I want to strangle her.

This author should have written either: 1) an academic study of the seductress as mythological figure and icon in history, or 2) a light, fun, flippant, sexy book for modern women about the art and history of seductresses. What she's doing instead is trying to merge the two, and it's awful. Her tone is saucy and sassy, but the sorts of comparisons she's making are more suited to an academic, professional voice. She writes as if she's trying to be the reader's bosom friend, but she can't help peppering her language with little French phrases (far, far too many little French phrases). She's not using footnotes, but she can't resist quoting from sources, so the reader has to page to the back of the book and find the reference in a list sorted by chapter and page number. I would rather have either easily-accessible footnotes, or else no quotations at all but an annotated source list for each topic at the end of the book. Overall, she comes off like an overweight, matronly, middle-aged history professor who's trying desperately to be "hip to the lingo" and the best friend of all her students when everyone would like her better if she'd just cut the cutesy act and be herself. Because of the style she's adopted, I don't have much confidence in her as a scholar, and I can't stand her as a writer.

Prioleau's writing is even more disappointing because the subject matter is really interesting! I *want* to read about seductresses. She covers famous and not-so-famous seductresses from history, women who really took the world by the balls and got what the wanted out of life, and I'm genuinely interested in reading their stories. But she insists on comparing each one to a mythological goddess, when there's no reason to do so! Each figure is fascinating in her own right, without the need to be likened to a Neolithic owl-headed goddess figurine. I agree that it's important to discuss the goddesses, that goddesses should get their own chapter, but the mythology and the primeval worship of female sexuality is done to death here. I would have much preferred to see each historical seductress appreciated for herself, for her own unique way of seducing and claiming power, than as an aspect of some ancient magical womanly life force. I understand what Prioleau is trying to do, but it's not working.

I made it halfway through the second chapter before I had to put this book down in annoyance. I would read it happily if it was an academic book or if it was fun, light nonfiction. But it's neither, and the mash-up means that I'm turning away from a topic I honestly want to read about because of the author's writing style.

I think I'm going to post that as a review on amazon. I'm honestly that annoyed. But, hell, I only paid a dollar for it, so it's not like I'm out anything but the time I wasted reading it.