Reclaiming Ourselves: How Women Dispel a Legacy of Bad Choices [Paperback]

Susan Shapiro Barash (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2001

As exemplified in the U.S. divorce rate, which exceeds 50 percent, many women are ill-prepared for making important life decisions and for coping with the aftermath of making poor ones. Like Sleeping Beauty, certain women have a tendency to “sleep” through their adult years and to repeat mistakes out of innocence or ignorance. Susan Shapiro Barash interviews 35 women who have recognized their passive patterns and taken action to reclaim their lives.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Berkeley Hills Books; 1st edition (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893163296
• ISBN-13: 978-1893163294
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,806,963 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars get in touch with ourselves, November 27, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Reclaiming Ourselves: How Women Dispel a Legacy of Bad Choices (Paperback)

RECLAIMING OURSELVES: HOW WOMEN DISPEL A LEGACY OF BAD CHOICES is author Susan Shapiro Barash's sixth onfiction, woman's issue book. As an avid fan of hers(Barash is Gender Professor at Marymount Manhattan College in NYC and lectures all around the country), I can honestly say that this book is especially exciting since it explores the lives of women between the ages of 35 and 65 in all areas of their lives. Barash concentrates on marriage, divorce, affairs, careers, children, adult sibling relationships and remarriage, giving sound advise and discovering some amazing stories of the interviewees. Not only will you see yourself in the book, but you will know that her theory, that women 'sleepwalk' through life as a coping mechanism and do not take care of themselves, is really an issue. The issue can be solved, because the final message is that only when we 'wake up' and are in touch with ourselves and our own needs can we really be useful to others. This is a must read since it guides women toward selffulfillment and a way to improbe their lives.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ready to wake up and get on with your life?, November 25, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Reclaiming Ourselves: How Women Dispel a Legacy of Bad Choices (Paperback)

Gender expert Susan Shapiro Barash offers women insight into their own lives. The message here is that until a woman knows what she wants and realizes how to get it, she isn't really any good to those who count on her, such as husbands, children, adults siblings and parents, and even co-workers. Barash believes that women are socially conditioned to 'sleep-walk' through life and to go through the motions without being in touch with their own needs or feelings. Once they 'wake up' and 'reclaim' themselves, anything is possible, from a divorce to a new marriage, to a new career.

This books affirms a woman's worth and shows us through case histories and the thoughts of experts, including the author, just how important it is to create our own reality and to seek our dreams. The book is particularly important in the aftermath of the September llth attacks on America, since it is now a time to heal ourselves and either improve relationships or be able to walk away. What a timely book!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An insightful wake up call., July 5, 2002

By 

secondwivesclub.com reviews (www.secondwivesclub.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Reclaiming Ourselves: How Women Dispel a Legacy of Bad Choices (Paperback)

This book was a book that I not only enjoyed reading, but it helped me to gain perspective on many things that I was unaware of, or ignoring. I'm not usually one to read a book for hours on end, and usually end up stopping and starting quite often, but I wasn't inclined to do so while reading this particular book in my spare time. I found it very interesting and it made me think of things I had never considered in myself before. A great tool for self discovery, and improvement without a lot of psycho babble.