Sleeping With Soldiers: In Search of the Macho Man [Hardcover]

Rosemary Daniell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1984

Sleeping with Soldiers is rosemary Daniell's story of her search for the macho man, the exploration of her deep attraction to men who live dangerously, who are frankly and naturally masculine. Daniell, an outspoken feminist, writer, and poet, identifies with the risks these men take in the name of freedom and sensation, and like many other independent women, she is drawn to them despite their tendency to drink too much, live too fast, and sometimes display a brutal brand of male chauvinism.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 259 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt & Co; 1st edition (November 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0030624312
• ISBN-13: 978-0030624315
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,121,162 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A remarkably frank and intelligent memoir, August 28, 1998

By 

Deborah L. Alpi "Deborah Lazaroff" (Aliso Viejo, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sleeping With Soldiers: In Search of the Macho Man (Paperback)

Daniell's memoir of her exploration of the wildness within herself, and its expression through her sexuality, is unique in the canon of women's writing. Few women authors dare to suggest that when women seek wild men, they do so because they wish to become like them, to let their own wildness run free. Daniell, a feminist, suggests that love of men and of all the joys and tribulations of love and sex with them can be freeing when women look to those aspects of themselves which are like men. She also makes a strong statement for the fact that true love between men and women cannot be possible without acceptance of all the darker sides of the self, and recognition that even after emotional pain, joy is possible. Her travels throughout the south and the wilder west of Montana and Colorado expose her to men and women of all kinds, and in the end one has a tremendous respect and love for all the complexity of men and women in this country. A truly remarkable, groundbreaking book; Erica Jong should write so well, and so frankly (there's nothing coy about Daniell's prose). For me, a woman with similar experiences, reading this book was truly liberating. It remains one of the treasures of my vast library, one I have reread more than once.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An unusually candid window on the soul of a lusting woman, March 8, 2007

By 

galloamericanus "galloamericanus" (Podunk, Iowa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sleeping With Soldiers: In Search of the Macho Man (Hardcover)

Discovering this book changed my life. I read it some years before I discovered the writings of Camille Paglia, parts of which can be seen as

supplying intellectual cover for narratives such as Sleeping with Soldiers.

The nature and intensity of sexual desire and of the willingness to tempt fate varies widely across individuals. Thus a few women will feel lust as intensely as 19 year old boys, and will also give rein to it in the irresponsible male way. Women who have done this have seldom gone on to write about it, if only because a wise age-old reluctance to kiss and tell. That there are many wannabe Daniells out there is attested to by the hundreds of thousands of women who have put explicit but anonymous digital snapshots of themselves on the web.

Anyone who has lived in the American South, as I have, will recognise the Rosemary Daniell type, a rawer version of Tennessee Williams's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Daniell's formal education may be spotty, but she definitely shares in the South's literary gift.

Sleeping with Soldiers is a real page turner, while I can't read more than 10 pages of Erica Jong without falling asleep. I concur with the views of the approving reviewer above who, apparently using her real name, had the courage to say that she had a past like Daniell's.

5.0 out of 5 stars Idiosyncratic, fascinating and an eye opener, March 25, 2011

By 

Mark Twain (New York City) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sleeping With Soldiers: In Search of the Macho Man (Hardcover)

Yeah, I guess this is one of those books that offends and intrigues in equal measure. Along with Mother Nature (much more sciency) Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species, I thought there were some really good insights into behavior and motivation.

I liked it and appreciated her frankness.

One thing, it's her point of view. She's not writing science.

Highly recommended for those not too overly-sensitized.