Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Best for those completely unfamiliar with the issues, November 11, 2001
The author of this book is apparently a former attorney and mother of three, now living in California. She sets out to convince other women of the case for plural marriage today.
The book attacks the issue from a purely secular viewpoint. This is not by any means a religious publication. If you find sites like polygamy page dot com a bit too heavy on the Bible for your liking, or you want to know the beneficial side effects of a biblical way of living, then this book may be what you'd like to read.
I don't know what US readers normally get for their money when they buy a book, but I found it slightly disappointing. The last chapter ends at page 225, but they are not big pages, and the only way of making the book more friendly to the partially-sighted would be to publish it in Braille. Yes, the typeface is big - huge, in fact, - enabling only about 6 or 7 words per line. And 5 pages of contents means that Chapter One only gets going at page 23. It should not take you very long to read.
Also, if you're used to complicated high-level analysis then this book is going to fall short of your expectations. Its arguments are few and simple, and they are frequently repeated in different variations through the book. If you already know the arguments this can become quite tiresome and simplistic. Sorry - I wish I could be more positive about it, but I can't.
However, if you look at the potential readership for the book, and allow for them not being very familiar with this subject, then it begins to become easier to see how it could be useful. The arguments are simple, and frequently reinforced. This is what is needed if people are unfamiliar with the ideas, or those hostile to them, are to be introduced to these concepts. And it would be of particular use to young readers, or to those who don't want to have to concentrate a lot all the way through the book.
The book emphasizes the problems caused by the inequalities in the number of women and men available for marriage. It leads to competition which frequently causes problems for women. In our Western Societies it leads to damaging divorce, which is in turn linked to spiraling crime. And it leads to all parties being poorer rather than benefiting from the economies of scale, personal freedoms and security that exist within plural marriage.
The book goes into further detail on these and other important points. If you know all this already, and are committed to polygamy being an acceptable lifestyle with a place in the modern world, then this book will neither enlighten nor enthuse you. However, it will act as a contribution to the debate, and it may be just the right thing to introduce a friend to ideas which will be new to them.
It could do with being about half the price that it actually is, but I suppose part of this comes from it appealing to minority interest.
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1 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
repulsive, January 10, 2007
i thought i might get some insight but this is a disgraceful exhibition of male dominance and female submissiveness. it is certainly not the dogs knackers. tags
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