Life So far: A Memoir [Paperback]

Betty Friedan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2001

In Life So Far, Friedan takes us on an intimate journey throughout her own life, from her lonely childhood to the founding of Now, and her brilliant, contentious, and brave leadership of the movement.

Friedan chronicles the secret underground of women in Washington in the early sixties who drafted her to spearhead an "NAACP" for women, and the daring of many who spoke out against discrimination for the first time. She recounts the political infighting and dirty tricks within the movement, and the forces that tried to destroy it, and how hard she fought to keep the movement practical and free of extremism, including "man hating". Friedan is frank about her twenty-two-year marriage to an advertising entrepreneur, which deteriorated into physical abuse.

Forthright, full of stories and larger-than-life characters, it is the scope of Friedan's vision and achievements that make her memoir so important and compelling. In Life So Far, an account only she could have written, Friedan spares neither herself nor anyone else.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Betty Friedan has given us another terrific and bravely written book--this time, it's a personal memoir from a woman who changed the world. Her many professional accomplishments are detailed here, from her beginning as a labor reporter to the creation of The Feminine Mystique and the organization of NOW, as well as all the fascinating travel, marches, writings, and controversies that have become her career. Told with characteristic straightforwardness, her personal and professional lives are comfortably mixed in every chapter: the death of the ERA occurred at the same time she found her dream home, and Indira Gandhi and Friedan had a relationship that mixed political admiration with a similar fashion sense. Her messy divorce and lack of child support is detailed without bitterness, while her well-publicized differences with Phyllis Schlafly are described in an illuminating and entertaining manner. The tone is both intelligent and conversational--there are no heroes in this book, but no one is a total villain either. Personal recollections of various politicians, activists, and events offer strong opinions, such as Friedan's belief that the National Women's Conference of 1977 was nearly derailed by right-wing ERA opposition, rather than the unexpected lesbian-rights organization that presented itself so strongly during the Houston convention. Divisions within the larger force of feminism are addressed simply--Friedan is first a pragmatist, and was often at odds with the famous sexual-politic theorists of the '70s. Wise and encouraging, Life So Far is a fascinating read for feminists and fans of all varieties. --Jill Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Sisterhood may be powerful, but it's always nice to have the last word--or at least to try. Viewed by many as the logical leader of the women's movement ushered in by the publication of her bestseller The Feminine Mystique, Friedan became a controversial figure as her often conservative positions led to clashes with other feminists. Her impetus for penning her memoirs is to "correct" the "mistakes" of two biographies that were published last year (Judith Hennessee's Betty Friedan: Her Life and Daniel Horowitz's Betty Friedan and the Making of the Feminine Mystique). Writing in a chatty style that rambles all over the place (she is apt to detail room decor in less focused moments), she is sometimes insightful, as when explaining her early attraction to Marxism in Freudian and Jewish theological terms. Unfortunately, Friedan is fighting old battles in much of the memoir, occasionally sounding bitter or paranoid: in her view, the discussions of lesbianism at the 1977 NOW conference in Houston were promoted and funded by "enemies of the women's movement"; La Leche is a fringe group that makes a "fetish of breast-feeding"; the FBI and CIA may have been behind moves to replace Friedan as president of NOW; and Kate Millett's feminist classic Sexual Politics "has a lot of warped stuff" in it. Friedan also minimizes or ignores her biographers' criticisms of her personal life or style, including criticism of her views on race, her drinking habit and what some contend is a tendency toward character assassination of other feminists. While it's important to hear Friedan's version of her history, readers will be well aware that hers is a one-sided view of the women's movement. (May)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1st Touchstone Ed edition (May 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743200241
• ISBN-13: 978-0743200240
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,580,817 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a remarkable woman's journey, August 6, 2000

By 

Karen Sampson Hudson "Karen Sampson Hudson" (Reno, NV United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Life So Far: A Memoir (Hardcover)

Betty Freidan comes through clearly in her book---superbright, sensitive, vital, a woman who has taken great pleasure in men, children, writing, and the women's movement she sparked in l963 with the publication of "The Feminist Mystique." She's good company, as frank about her foibles as she is about her gifts and accomplishments. Unlike the extremists who entered the women's movement after her, she is balanced and moderate. "I've always thought of women's liberation as men's liberation as well." She says about what she might want on her gravestone, "She helped make a world where women feel good about being women and free to really love men." A recurring motif in her memoir is what she calls her "Jewish existential conscience", a feeling that she has to use her life to make the world better. (The "Christian correlation" might be, Jesus' parable of the use of talents.) She has indeed been a friend to women----and to men--everywhere.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating Lady, Education on process of Social Movement, June 18, 2000

By 

Kris Miller (Washington D.C.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Life So Far: A Memoir (Hardcover)

As a biography, "Life so Far" is a fast paced account of the full life of a exceedingly accomplished woman. It is full of successes, failures, and SECRETS that others who are so accomplished would not tell.

But, it is much more than a bigraphy.

It provides a first rate education on the successful orchestration, and challenges, that would apply to development of most any political/ social movement. This insite, so skillfully revealed, is gained through fast pace read of the book, for the simple reason that you cannot put it down.

More specific, and equally enligtening the book provides a comprehensive overview of the womens social/political movement toward equality as told through the actions Betty Friedan's remarkable life. The book accounts the tremendous progress, but also reminds us to continue to question social/political order because the job is not complete.

One of the most powerful and interesting books I have read -- I have just logged on to Amazon to order 3 more copies of the book for friends -- spread the word, this is definately a 5-star!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Look Back, February 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Life So Far: A Memoir (Hardcover)

This is a courageous book written by a courageous woman. The story is of a life that continues to endure despite many hardships. If Betty Friedan had been less bright, one wonders if her life would have been easier. My personal favorite part in the book is that of her childhood. One can see her development as a feminist. When one is involved in raising daughters, I feel there is alot to learn in this book. As an aunt with four young nieces, I see the great responsibility one has in raising women to become leaders in the world today. That is why I recommend this book for library use.