Customer Reviews

Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women: Romance Writers on the Appeal of the Romance (New Cultural Studies)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There were a few points discussed in this book that I had never really thought about before and appreciated reading about. For instance, I liked Laura Kinsale's essay "The Androgynous Reader: Point of View in the Romance". She argued that the reader of a romance novel doesn't neccessarily identify only with the heroine, but also with the hero, maybe even moreso with the hero. It made me reconsider why I was so unhappy with the books that never explained the hero's point of view very well. The essays in this book cover a lot of things, like virginal heroines and alpha males, and the "happily ever after" ending that's so important for romances. At least a couple of the writers made comparisons between the mystery genre and the romance genre, something that I thought was interesting. I didn't always agree with what the essays were saying, but, for the most part, I enjoyed reading them.

That said, it seemed that there wasn't a great deal of communication between the various authors in this book. If there had been, there would, hopefully, have been less repetition of ideas. There's a great deal of overlap between the essays, and the mystery vs. romance bit is only one example - most essays talk about the alpha male, the ways that romance writers were once asked to change their writing and how those changes would've hurt the genre, the type of feminism in romance, etc. Im just glad that the book was short, and a relatively quick read, or the repetition would've been much more aggravating than it was. Also, I'm not entirely sure that this book would reach the sort of audience that the introduction mentioned: people with biases against the romance genre. I was once a part of that group, and I don't think I would have picked up this book - it took reading a really good romance, recommended to me by a friend, to change my mind about romance.

This is a great collection of scholarly essays by well-known romance authors about the genre. Any serious romance fan will find this a fascinting read. I was continually impressed by the profound insights in this book. Not only is it a compelling response to the many unenlightened critics of the genre, but it is also a thoughtful consideration of how romance novels reflect the changing face of women's issues in this country. I particularly enjoyed the article by Susan Elizabeth Phillips called "The Romance and the Empowerment of Women." Also, Laura Kinsale's article about how readers respond to the point of view of the narrative was fascinating. This should be mandatory reading for all romance editors.

I found this book very interesting reading. From each author, I gained new insight into why I like to read romance, and why it's written the way it is. Many of us readers do like the "alpha" hero, or even as in Anne Stuart's words--the vampire hero. Why the authors like them, write about them, and entertains us with these heroes, fascinates me. To read about the balance the adventurous heroine needs, entertains me. And, I love Laura Kinsale's place-holder heroine, her writing on point of view, as well as Jayne Krentz's defense of the genre, in general. Excellent book, worth reading and keeping.

This book opened my eyes in many ways. As a writer, I recognized aspects of my writing that I'd never paid enough attention to in the past--and more importantly, I got to know my reader a little better. I'd imagine readers of romance would find this book affirming of their love of the genre. Wonderfully put together from a long list of smart, "adventurous" women.

I picked up this book as research for understanding the type of language women respond to. As referenced in this book, Romance Novels account for about 50% of total book sales. This means that from a mans perspective, something in this genre is resonating with with the Venus gender and if nothing else we should see what language patterns are of worth.

I definitely noticed the interesting wrapping of words in descriptions. Where a simple minded man would say "I love you", the romance novelists would say "There exists this deep yearning from the core of my being to express to you the intense warmth and tender feelings of never-ending love I have developed in this beautiful journey we have shared together." And that would be the romantic hero saying this.

I also liked the one explanation where a novelist confessed that she would love to have a romantic fling with the type of man she would never want a permanent relationship with. hmmmmmm, what age old non PC phrase would describe the winner of such attention?

From an informative stand point I did enjoy some of the insight gained from this book. It was repetitive enough to drill the point home, and as an excercise in research was worth the time and money spent.

I came across this book shortly after discovering Jayne Ann Krentz/Amanda Quick. Through a collection of generally well written essays, I found that I wasn't alone in my enjoyment of the genre, nor alone in my reasons. I also had a whole new list of aliases, and other authors to look up! And I gained new respect for Ms. Krentz literary ability. Even friends who don't read romances, enjoyed this book of essays.

This is a great collection of scholarly essays by well-known romance authors about the genre. Any serious romance fan will find this a fascinting read. I was continually impressed by the profound insights in this book. Not only is it a compelling response to the many unenlightened critics of the genre, but it is also a thoughtful consideration of how romance novels reflect the changing face of women's issues in this country. I particularly enjoyed the article by Susan Elizabeth Phillips called "The Romance and the Empowerment of Women." Also, Laura Kinsale's article about how readers respond to the point of view of the narrative was fascinating. This should be mandatory reading for all romance editors.

I enjoyed reading this collection of essays exploring the themes, types, symbols, and (most of all) the appeal of romance novels. In a time when cultural studies is turning its attention on sit-coms and daytime television, should we ignore what romance writing has to teach us about our selves and our culture? I think not. I didn't find definitave answers here--no gospel of women's fiction--but there are a plethora of perspectives. I was challenged to evaluate how and why I read to see if my experience matched up with the authors'. It is a bit of an apologetic...I guess many of the people who read and write romance novels (like myself) are well-adjusted and well-educated people, and we wonder why we're so attracted to books commonly described as "trashy." It probably won't convince any "outsiders" (as the earlier review said) of the value of romance writing, but if you love romance and you don't know why, give this book a try.

This is a solid book from best selling authors that will truly help you understand the fantasies of women. Buy this book and read it slowly to let it all sink in, and then model yourself after these fantasies to banter with women, Fun guaranteed on this. This will help you understand their fantasies, and a book such as BANG from Roosh V will help you attract the Women.

It is an amazing book, it is the best if not the only explanation I have found about the psychology behind the romance nobels.