500 Great Books by Women: A Reader's Guide

After reading some of the negative reviews posted on this book, I found myself compelled to respond. I am not sure how to define a great book. And clearly, anyone having the audacity to draw up an unconventional list of great books is asking for criticism.

o Is Jane Austin as good as writer as Stendhal? o Are the Bronte sisters as important as Dickens? o Is Edith Wharton as interesting as Thomas Mann?

Some people see these as an important choices. As a reader, I find myself drawn to them all, and drawn to lists that expand on what I've already read. If you want a standard list of good reading there are plenty around. Try the "New Lifetime Reading Plan" compiled by Clifton Fadiman and John S. Major. For fun you could read "Great Books" by David Denby. (He's a baby boomer writing about revisiting the classics by re-taking 2 courses in humanities and literature at Columbia University.)

I, however, prefer not to choose. The feminine voices in 500 GBBW are additions to, and not replacements for those other great books. Reading has always been a way to reach across time, and culture, to make us feel as, and for someone else, and to hear about something we have not or cannot experience. Excellent translations have given access to the words of Allende as well Homer.

Some have made this an issue of political correctness. If listening to a different voice that happens to be feminine is political correctness, then three cheers for PC. If you want to stay out of political correctness, but want to find and revisit some truly wonderful books, try "500 Great Books by Women".

Thank God that someone out there cares about work by and about half the world's population! Not only is this an astonishingly extensive listing, but I have also actually taken the time to track down and read several of the suggested books, to discover, to my eternal delight, that women really do write top-quality stuff! This reference could be the starting point for a real challenge to the phallo-santified "Canon"...

To truly appreciate this gem of a book, you must be female. It takes you on a journey through womens literature that is in print, so that you will know the great diversity available. While you may wonder why some titles are not there, you will also be trying to locate titles you have never heard of. Because women authors tend to get so little publicity for their work, hopefully this special book will become a classic reference guide for all women readers.

This book is a start to finding some excellent books written by women. And the synopses of the 500 books were well-written and quite enticing. However, some of the selections seemed arbitrary. Though the authors make no claims of being all-inclusive (which they couldn't be, anyway), it seemed too much like the books were chosen on the authors' personal opinions alone. (See Booklist's review above.)

This is a must buy for all serious readers of women's works. Since PRINCESS was required reading in my high school class, its been my favorite book, and I was pleased to see that the contributors recognized the "can't put it down" greatness of this modern day story about a Saudi Arabian princess. Then I saw LITTLE WOMEN, a favorite book from my childhood... This book not only introduced me to authors I was unaware of, but verified my own favorites, LOUISA MAY ALCOTT and JEAN SASSON and MARY SHELLY. I'm checking them off one by one. I hope these writers provide us with a sequel.