Customer Reviews

They Used to Call Me Snow White...but I Drifted: Women's Strategic Use of Humor

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This well written (and hilarious) book instructs women to unveil and unleash their humor in the real world. Barreca maintains that the demure Mona Lisa style of humor is no longer sufficient--if it ever was.. With the increased number of women in the workplace, this book has particular value for changing work climate. Women's open laughter and humor can improve the connection, perspective, and creativity at work. A must read for women....and men.

Not only can Barreca take a joke, she can masterfully script her own making the reader laugh out loud at the comedy and complexity of the gender roles - both male and female - we think we lead, but which in fact often lead us. In "They Used To Call Me Snow White... But I Drifted" Barreca makes public many of the private joys, hypocrisies and trials of women's humor in an honest and frank manner. But make no mistake: behind her comfortable writing style lies a poignancy, wit and substance that raises the stakes. Reading "Snow White" is like sitting down at the kitchen table with your funniest (and smartest) aunt and being let in on all of life's best and naughtiest secrets. Simply put, Regina Barreca gets it.

I read this book after hearing the author speak at a local college. She was wonderful! This book totally met my expectations. It's not a collection of jokes, but it is uplifting. Regina Barreca also makes excellent points about the dynamics of power between men and women, in addition to how humor can either confirm or alter these dynamics. I would recommend this to anyone interested in feminism and/or humor.

I was assigned this book in a class a couple years ago, and I have kept read it every couple of years to give me a boost and to remind me of what a powerful force humor can be. The examples are terrific and actually useful. The writing can be appreciated by a reader from high school age through assisted-living age...it is not a book just for a small group but for everybody. For women who like to laugh this book comes close to being perfect. The jokes about sex are worth the price!

I read this book a couple of years ago and liked it but I just read it again because I am going through a bad time (divorce, hate my job, getting fed up with y teenage kids) and it cheered me up like taking a piece of cake from a dessert cart when somebody else is paying.Highly recommended.

I thought Regina Barreca's book was a nice introduction to someone unfamiliar with women's issues, especially in regard to humor, but it does not go quite far enough.

For being written and published in the late 80s, early 90s, I must give the book some leeway with examples and statements, but it just seems as though this book may be past its importance. Her introduction to The Penguin Book of Women's Humor was just as informative as this entire book.

The book should still be used to explain the evolution of women's humor, but better research exists with up-to-date examples.

examples from t.v. shows I grew up watching so
maybe a little dated but still a funny book with
a message for girls and even older women about the
need to use humor and comedy in our lives so that we
can be seen as real human beings and also as people who
manage to have a really good time, and with a message for
females who need to have encouragemnent to take themselves--
this is the weird part--seriously.

Ms. Barreca not only kills with humor, but with crucial issues regarding a women's perspective in a so-called "man's world". Did I mention humor? You're going to laugh outloud at some of the brilliant wit. Great gift for yourself, or the friends/woman/women in your life. Men like me will read it, but not say that outloud, in a biker bar. She's hysterical.

Mae West isn't the only funny woman to grace the planet, Regina Barreca has scored a real hit with this book, telling it like it is, and making us laugh all the while we're reading. And, as a man, I must say that it's not only women who will be in stitches with this book, it's all of us, because we're all in it together. Give this book to your friends, they'll appreciate it. Mine do.

I had high hopes for this book. But I ended up just skimming through most of it. Some of the jokes are funny, the author makes some good points, and there are some good references in it. However, I found the writing style wasn't able to hold my interest.