The Secret of Life: Commonsense Advice for the Uncommon Woman [Paperback]

Elizabeth Wurtzel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 31, 2004

Though she might not always follow her own advice, Elizabeth Wurtzel knows certain things to be true: Doing copious amounts of drugs leads nowhere you want to be; trying to be friends with your ex is always a bad idea; if you can’t afford to hire a mover, you can’t afford to move; and always doing the best you can is always good enough.

Here are Wurtzel’s succinct and clever rules for living your best life. Fulfillment is within everyone’s reach. Grasping it takes enjoying your mistakes, being strong, and having opinions. Today’s woman should:

• Be Gorgeous. Make the absolute most of what you’ve got. Believe that you are gorgeous, and you will be. It’s the only trick that really works.
• Embrace Fanaticism. Harness joie de vivre by pursuing insane interests, consuming passions, and constant sources of gratification that do not depend on the approval of others.
• Use All Available Resources. Let the M.D.s and the Ph.D.s help you solve your problems so that you don’t become everyone else’s problem.
• Never Clear the Table at a Dinner Party Unless the Men Get Up to Help First. Cleanup should not be gendered. Change the world, one dinner table at a time. Hold a sit-in.

One of the fiercest, funniest, and best-known essayists of her generation, Elizabeth Wurtzel infuses this modest gem of a rule book with a sharp wit and a real candor.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Bitch: In Praise of Difficult Women

"One of the more honest, insightful and witty books on the subject of women to have come along in a while."
-Karen Lehrman, New York Times Book Review

"The Courtney Love of letters--an extraordinarily thought-provoking, absorbing, wise, often poignant read. You can disagree with Wurtzel, but at least she always has a passionate point of view."
-Dana Kennedy, Entertainment Weekly

"It's got the preposterous energy of a great, drunken tantrum, and a voluptuous, sprawling style, with lots of good, zinging jokes."
-Mary Gaitskill, The Village Voice Literary Supplement


Praise for Prozac Nation:

"Sparkling, luminescent prose...by turns wrenching and comical, self-indulgent and self-aware, Prozac Nation possesses the raw candor of Joan Didion's essays, the irritating emotional exhibitionism of Sylvia Plath's Bell Jar, the wry, dark humor of a Bob Dylan song...a powerful portrait of one girl's journey through the purgatory of depression and back."
-Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

"Thoughtful...Very brave...like all provocateurs, she poses questions which make you think."
-Julia Phillips, Vanity Fair

"Sylvia Plath with the ego of Madonna."
-The New York Times Book Review --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

From the Inside Flap

Though she might not always follow her own advice, Elizabeth Wurtzel knows certain things to be true: Doing copious amounts of drugs leads nowhere you want to be; trying to be friends with your ex is always a bad idea; if you can't afford to hire a mover, you can't afford to move; and always doing the best you can is always good enough.

Here are Wurtzel's succinct and clever rules for living your best life. Fulfillment is within everyone's reach. Grasping it takes enjoying your mistakes, being strong, and having opinions. Today's woman should:

• Be Gorgeous. Make the absolute most of what you've got. Believe that you are gorgeous, and you will be. It's the only trick that really works.
• Embrace Fanaticism. Harness joie de vivre by pursuing insane interests, consuming passions, and constant sources of gratification that do not depend on the approval of others.
• Use All Available Resources. Let the M.D.s and the Ph.D.s help you solve your problems so that you don't become everyone else's problem.
• Never Clear the Table at a Dinner Party Unless the Men Get Up to Help First. Cleanup should not be gendered. Change the world, one dinner table at a time. Hold a sit-in.

One of the fiercest, funniest, and best-known essayists of her generation, Elizabeth Wurtzel infuses this modest gem of a rule book with a sharp wit and a real candor.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (August 31, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345476751
• ISBN-13: 978-0345476753
• Product Dimensions: 4.6 x 0.6 x 7.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #958,392 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars By far, not "radical", January 14, 2005

By 

Ksuzy (Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radical Sanity : Commonsense Advice for Uncommon Women (Paperback)

I opened up this book not knowing what to expect, and was surprised at first how empowering it seemed on the surface. Some of the advice is actually worthy of praise, for example, she encourages women to ask questions and learn more about the world and to have opinions about things-- in other words, to use our brains and our voices! She also encourages women not to be afraid to indulge in life by doing things such as eating dessert and not being afraid to let the men clean up after a dinner party. Where the book starts to fall apart, however, is when she starts to suggest that in order to "be gorgeous," women should have some make-up on and should be pleasing to look at (in order not to offend those around them), and that to be fulfilled, a woman should fall in love and settle down. It's not that there's anything wrong with these things, but these are not radical ideas-- in fact, they fall very much in line with traditional advice-- and they may not be for everyone and these chapters don't seem to fit with the rest of the book, as the former chapters were vague enough to fit most women's lifestyles and choices. Was she running out of ideas on things to write about or was she that locked in to one path to happiness? We didn't need another book aimed at young women that claims to contain some secret to life so that when they try to live up to it and fail, they feel guilty and miserable, unaware of the rich options available out there.

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Making Self-Centeredness Sound So Good, March 13, 2001

By 

"sfzook" (Sacramento, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Radical Sanity : Commonsense Advice for Uncommon Women (Paperback)

"Radical Sanity" is not nearly as delightfully manic as "Bitch" or "Prozac Nation." You cannot picture a young woman seething with anger, depression, or ideas, but perhaps this is good. "Radical Sanity" is more ambitious than Maria Shriver's attempts at telling young woman how to live, even though some points are duplicated. In this very fast read, Wurtzel tackles the problems of ex-boyfriends and the stigma of single women with cats. As always, she is honest, but I missed the sense of controversey and Wurtzel herself that her other books have had. In "Radical Sanity," Wurtzel shares her experiences, but she seems far more... normal (and organized). For that, I think this book is good for 20 and 30 something females because Wurtzel makes feminism and self-centeredness seem so simple and needed. Of course you shouldn't clear the dishes if the men don't. Of course you should enjoy your single years. Some readers may dislike the fact that Wurtzel joins the ranks of the common woman for this book, but I think many young women will find reassurance in Wurtzel's ideas.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A disappointment, August 13, 2006

By 

M. Karam "Michelle K" (White Plains, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret of Life: Commonsense Advice for the Uncommon Woman (Paperback)

Before reading this book, I was a big Wurtzel fan. In Prozac Nation, I finished the book feeling like I had a fair idea of who she was. I respected her. This book revealed to me that she is not at all what I'd formerly imagined. I got the feeling that this work was something she through together just for the purpose of making a few bucks and having another title under her belt. It is unlike not only Prozac Nation but all her other titles. I noticed a number of contradictions within this work. Personally, I was uninterested in taking any of her "advice" which I felt was lacking sincerity. There were also generalizations made by Wurtzel about women which I thought isolate were untrue, unfair, and far from feminist. If this book hadn't been written by Wurtzel, I'd most likely have stopped reading it midway. The only reason I completed it is because I was a fan of hers. I expected better.