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Rating: 
Summary: A dull, flat , poorly-researched book
Review: As co-author of another book on menstruation, also called THE CURSE (co-authored with Janice Delaney and Mary Jane Lupton), I admit I approached this book with doubts and displeasure. Since our CURSE is still in print, why another book on menstruation with the same title?The books, in fact, aren't very similar, as our CURSE is a good-humored, gossipy cultural history (including jokes, literature, the rags-to-riches products industry, and famous menstruators), while Houppert's very serious book is often not about menstruation at all. Her discussion of tampons veers off into an attack on capitalism and dioxin; a long section is about her childbirth. Her CURSE is really about her annoyance with how women's bodies are treated--an annoyance I share. But she uses menstruation as the starting point for her unhappiness, instead of as the subject of her book. I, meanwhile, am annoyed that she either didn't read (bad research) or doesn't credit our CURSE, which came out in 1976 and in a second edition in 1988. She also claims to be the first to break a taboo on mentioning menstruation--but we did that in 1976. And where we try to empathize with the minds of menstruators (as in Judy Blume's novel, ARE YOU THERE GOD?, about "girl-gets-napkin"), Houppert complains that Blume's writing style is "flat." The new CURSE is not worth reading. Try the old.
Rating: 
Summary: Diamond in the Rough
Review: I found Houpperts book on a dusty old shelf in a local Surplus store. I m not sure how it had gotten there, but upon reading a little into it I was sure it was worth the dollar it was selling for. I am one Chapter in and already she has changed my life. She provides astonishing information regarding tampons: what exactly is in them, what the industry hides, and what affects the secrets have had on womens lives. I promptly threw out all my tampons after finishing her first chapter! This book is not only for women, but those concerned with the environment, capitalism and how they all interconnect to make a horrifically clear picture of our socially accepted profit over people patterns. I found it for a dollar...you may not be so lucky...but there are somethings worth knowing that you can't put a price on.
Rating:
Summary: oddly enough
Review: I happened to pick this book out of the stack of books I have been planning to read the other day - with my eyes closed. How amazingly coincidental that I picked "The Curse" when I just started my period for this month. Anyway, it's a good read - I especially like the euphenisms on the endpapers, most of which I never heard of in my life. I grew up in a house with 5 other females, so there were no cute little names for "that time of the month". As a matter of fact, when I got my first period, I was sick as a dog and my dad said "Now you are a woman" and I told him "If this is what being a woman is all about, you can keep it." M's Houppert explores the whole feminine hygiene industry, bringing up such bad memories as the "Rely" tampon (remember toxic shock syndrome?) and how dioxin is used in creating the various napkins / tampons most women use at sometime or another. I found this an extremely interesting book. From the extensive quotes from parts of Anne Frank's diaries to the MUM (Museum of Menstruation, located in New Carollton, Maryland and run by Harry Finley, M's Houppert's extensive research makes this book worth a spot on your bookshelf. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: oddly enough
Review: I happened to pick this book out of the stack of books I have been planning to read the other day - with my eyes closed. How amazingly coincidental that I picked "The Curse" when I just started my period for this month. Anyway, it's a good read - I especially like the euphenisms on the endpapers, most of which I never heard of in my life. I grew up in a house with 5 other females, so there were no cute little names for "that time of the month". As a matter of fact, when I got my first period, I was sick as a dog and my dad said "Now you are a woman" and I told him "If this is what being a woman is all about, you can keep it." M's Houppert explores the whole feminine hygiene industry, bringing up such bad memories as the "Rely" tampon (remember toxic shock syndrome?) and how dioxin is used in creating the various napkins / tampons most women use at sometime or another. I found this an extremely interesting book. From the extensive quotes from parts of Anne Frank's diaries to the MUM (Museum of Menstruation, located in New Carollton, Maryland and run by Harry Finley, M's Houppert's extensive research makes this book worth a spot on your bookshelf. I recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: I'm also upset at the biased review written by the author of the other 'Curse.' Ms. Houppert's issues with both dioxin and capitalism fit perfectly into the book. The childbirth story was not only not long, but it related to The Curse's themes. And even as a life-long Judy Blume fan, I can honestly say her writing is pretty flat. It's clear your books are completely different, aside from the title, and I would never read your book based on that petty review. Not everyone is looking for a "gossipy history" of menstruation, some people are interested in facts. Anyway, not only was this 'Curse' engaging and interesting, it really made me angry about the way menstruation is treated in our society. Another reader mentioned that she felt no anger because they were providing products that women need, to say the least I DID feel angry, and much more informed, after reading about the way companies have, as the quote on the back says: "taken the natural workings of women's bodies...are medicalized, sanitized, taken from us and sold back to us at a profit." This is really a must for all women.
Rating:
Summary: amazon needs to edit reviews
Review: It seems a little unfair that Amazon would allow a writer of a previous book called the Curse--who obviously has an axe to grind against Houppert's witty, thorough and intelligent writing and sees it as competition against the sales of her own volume--to write such a mean-spirited diatribe in the "customer reviews" section. Even more bizarre that Amazon actually allows Ms. Tobin to actually REVIEW HER OWN BOOK on that book's page (giving it five stars, naturally). As someone who has in the past taken the customer reviews seriously, it makes me really wonder whether anyone is minding the store. Regarding Houppert's book: It's good. Buy it. Ignore Tobin. She's got a major chip on her shoulder. Listen to Alix Kates Shulman and Peggy Orenstein--they're better (and fairer) judges.
Rating:
Summary: Read this Book!
Review: Revealing work about the feminine protection industry but I couldn't really understand Houppert's indignation with the industry (except for the dioxin problem...) They are selling a product that we need! I'm so happy we no longer need to use those disgusting belts. I'm pretty happy with stick on pads. I've tried reusables but I think the industry is here to stay. I don't have a problem with that. I was expecting much more though, about how women are "The Other", which Houppert does talk about but not to the extent that I would have liked. I found the book easy to read and stay involved in, but it just as easily could have been an article in the Village Voice (which it was originally). Another reader (the author of the other Curse book) complained about Houppert's long story about her birth. I didn't think the story was that long, and was appropriately included. Houppert admits that she herself is very much influenced by our male dominated society and it shows in her writing.
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