The old performance model is out, replaced by a new model of sex that emphasizes ``pleasure, closeness, and self- and partner- enhancement''—or so says Oakland therapist Zilbergeld (The Shrinking of America, 1983, etc.). Pleasure takes practice, for doing what comes naturally is no guarantee of good sex, Zilbergeld counsels. Here, good sex is defined as feeling good about yourself, good about your partner, and good about what you're doing. As in Male Sexuality (1978), Zilbergeld includes many exercises—ranging from solo mental activities to practice sessions requiring a willing partner—that he's used regularly in his practice. In addition, he provides suggested scripts that give examples of how to talk to your partner. Zilbergeld examines the fantasy model of sex with some hilarious excerpts from bestselling novels by Harold Robbins, Erica Jong, and others before focusing on the real thing with black-and-white anatomical drawings and charts depicting male and female sexual response. With the basics out of the way, he moves on to his main concern: how to have better sex. The focus is on relationships and communication—becoming a good listener, asserting yourself, expressing yourself, etc. Specific sexual problems are considered, and exercises designed to resolve them are provided. Zilbergeld acknowledges that self-help may not be enough and directs difficult cases to a sex therapist. And lest the next generation have the same hang-ups as the present one, he includes a chapter of advice for fathers on talking to their sons about sex. Takes on tough problems and answers difficult-to-ask questions: comprehensive, forthright, and reassuring.
Pub Date: June 15, 1992
ISBN: 0-553-08253-1
Page Count: 592
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1992
Chideya, a 1990 graduate of Harvard who worked as a staff reporter at Newsweek and is currently employed by MTV News, has taken upon herself no small task. To say something true and meaningful about American racial attitudes is difficult enough. To say something true about the extent and manner in which media images create rather than reflect attitudes is almost as hard. Chideya starts with a solid premise: that because whites and blacks in America still live largely segregated lives, white America's picture of African-American life is acquired disproportionately through the media. The picture isn't all negative, Chideya notes, but it fails to convey how the majority of black America lives. In some ways, the book is an affirmation of the success of the black middle class, charting increased participation in politics and the professions and lamenting the fact that this part of black life is so rarely represented by the media. Chideya gives the news media particularly bad grades for employing too few blacks and for the consequently inaccurate picture of African-American life. Filled with figures and facts (most of them from government sources like the Census Bureau), the book educates more than it fulminates. And it comes with a ``Test Your Racial Issues IQ Test'' for those who want to make sure they don't put their foot in their mouth before sounding off in any arguments about race.
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-452-27096-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Plume
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
Warrior (English and Native American Studies/Stanford; and a Kirkus contributor) compares and contrasts two of the most important American Indian writers of the 20th century on the issues of Indian sovereignty and survival. Vine Deloria Jr., the best-known contemporary Indian intellectual, came to prominence in the late 1960s and early '70s with his commentaries (e.g., Custer Died For Your Sins and God Is Red) on a broad range of issues facing Native peoples. John Joseph Mathews, a member of Warrior's own Osage nation, was a noted novelist and writer in the 1930s and '40s who wrote one of the most highly regarded novels by a Native American, Sundown. Warrior situates these two figures in the context of American Indian intellectual traditions. He then examines their responses to the loss of Indian lands, religious freedom, and political sovereignty. Finally, he develops the concept of ``intellectual sovereignty'' as a means of describing their perspectives and as a tool for envisioning the role Indian writers can play in their peoples' struggles for self-determination. The work shows that there is much more to Native literary output than transcriptions of myths from the oral tradition.
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-8166-2378-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Univ. of Minnesota
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
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