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Summary: Old advice you never listened to.
Review: Why is it that your parents were always right but yet you never listened to them? I decided to read this book because it came up in one of my college texts as highly controversial. I think that this is a great reference guide for women who act without thinking. Many of the rules in this book are very useful and almost necessary to keep a man "for good" and most importantly to show self respect. Many women chase after men by calling them or initiate sex too early in the relationship and then the man looses interest or doesn't give her the treatment she deserves. I think this book teaches women to use the tools that we have to our advantage to understand men and understand their tricks. Though many of the rules were old fashioned, others are very practical and are almost crucial to maintains a man attention. Don't think twice, buy it.
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Summary: So true
Review: This book was marvellous in the fact that when you completely analyse every bit of information, dating and finding a proper mate is a game and its got to be played correctly. Men like to be thought of as aggressors and want a challenge, its the male ego which I think is only right. Feminism has its place but I'm not interested in being able to do everything that he can do or being thought of in that way. Phoning a man constantly after one date would suggest insecurity, and disclosing the details of a not so hot relationship with the last guy could have this one treat you exactly as the last one did. I know that for a fact because its happened to a friend of mine twice. I didn't find anything offensive about the book and well worth the read.
Rating: 
Summary: Useful
Review: I think this book is an excellent source for women who love too much, too quickly. Just as men don't respect a women who "puts out" so easily, they aren't easily impressed with ladies who so quickly and easily fawn all over men. This book might be overboard but it does teach a little bit of self-respect.An excellent book I just bought is The Romantic's Guide. It gives tons of great dating ideas besides the very predictable dinner and a movie. How many of those lame dates have we been on.
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Summary: Games never work for long term relationships
Review: You need to find someone who compliments you, I know it sounds trite, but when you've had it, you know. This book is a JOKE at best and will not guarantee a long lasting relationship. Manipulating a man into proposing to you for one is not romantic and secondly basis your relationship on dishonesty. Finding someone who's your best friend, who you can learn from and he learns from you--that's a good start. All relationships take work and each one we learn something new about ourselves of what works and what does not. Playing games will get you nowhere but a divorce in the end, just like your two authors of this book. Looks who's lauging all the way to the bank, these over the hill princess wanna be's with no husbands. Hope they enjoyed their small amount of success!
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Summary: Dating Essential for Women Who Love Too Much!
Review: This book was recommended to me to read by a friend who is now married. I've always been too nice in my relationships which more often than not turned out to be one-sided and unfulfilling. Reading this book has allowed me to step back and be aware of passive-aggressive men that aren't really interested but don't tell you because they don't want to hurt your feelings. The Rules teaches women who love too much to stop trying to earn a man's love who isn't interested in getting married to you!
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Summary: Ignore the marrage bit, learn how not to get hurt
Review: As a feminist, as a young (mid-20s) educated Internet Professional, as a manager, I thought the idea of the rules, ridiculous. But one day while I was in a bookstore, this controversial book caught my eye. I picked it up to read because I was wondering what kind of rubbish desperate women in the world was buying into. To my horror and surprise, the rules spoke loudly and clearly to me about the mistakes I knew I was making and gave me some very serious pointers of behavior that I was searching the answer to! So what is so special about this book? The premise that men chase women, and that we are looking for husbands can be ignored, and understandably offensive, but what the rules is, (although the authors probably don¡¦t even know this themselves) is a good reference in how to prevent yourself falling too fast and getting hurt because you have given out so much to a man that a) isn¡¦t interested in you, b) is not capable of loving you the right way, c) just a plain jerk. Too many times I have watched myself and my friends quickly shack up with a man who were the above if not all three, but have put so much effort and investment into the relationship that we were unable to let go! How do you dump the jerk when you have already told him about how painful your grandmother¡¦s death was for you? He has already met all your friends and family, and they all know you are in love with him.. You just can¡¦t break up.. even if he was the wrong man. You stick with it trying to make it work. Then afterwards when you have more wounds than sensible, you break up realizing you have made a terrible mistake and sit in a darkened room, thinking of your own stupidity? Sounds familiar? This book is helping prevent it from happening again. It doesn¡¦t tell me how to erase those wounds, but by not chasing after a man, by not telling him everything about yourself straight away, these rules allow a logically slow progression to getting to know someone to make sure that he is the right one before you jump into sex, jump into emotional involvement. Although this is not the premise of the book, these are what the rules allow you to do. My girlfriends and I have talked about not letting it happen so quickly a million times as we bemoan another bad choice in man, but it¡¦s been a long hard battle of finding the ¡§right way¡¨ to do it. The rules does just that. I have been practicing the rules as it did for two weeks now, and was amazed by how differently I approached not only dating, but friendship, and co-workers. Instead of jumping head way into what *I* wanted, I waited to see what intentions the other person had. I saw a lot of people who I previously thought we ¡§something¡¨ in a different light and backed off. I stood in a bar and didn¡¦t stare at anyone I thought was interesting, instead watched one guy walk over and stood next to me. I over heard a conversation he had with his friend and realized he was a jerk! Had I done what I usually do, which is approach him with some funny remark, I would have missed his snide remark to his friend about some other woman in the bar. Read this book, do the rules, but don¡¦t take the socio-biological and desperate seeking husband rhetoric too seriously or at all.
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Summary: What I Never Realized...
Review: I am a tall, fairly handsome, and fairly well-off man. I could never figure out why women who at first seemed interested would not call me back, or end dates politely but promptly. I remember one very interested one woman who said, precisely, that she would call back at 8:30 pm that night, but never did. There was even one lady who gave me her phone number, without me asking, but did not return my call when I asked her answering maching for a very low-key date in a crowded public park where we met. (Had she done so, I might be married to her.) In each case, I never called more than once, or twice if I genuinely thought her answering machine was broken. Why? Because no man can force a woman to be interested in him; either she is, or isn't. Also, with today's sexual harassment laws, I cannot be very persistent without being branded a "harassing caller." (I wouldn't dream of hitting on a woman at work, even if I was nuts about her.) I've always assumed that unresponsive women were (1) not interested and (2) too meek to say so outright. So I took the hint and looked elsewhere. Although looks are not _sufficient_ for marriage, I only look for women of "my type" (no, not blonde models!). The only exception was an average looking girl who turned out to be a brilliant genius; she became instantly attractive, but did not appreciate my unusual strong interest in her, and did not call after one date. Had she been harder to get, we probably wouldn't have dated at all. THEN... my mother sent me this book. In a nutshell, I have to say that if "hard-to-get" actually works, it's because you happen to be dealing with a guy (unlike me, or many of my friends) who understands that you may be playing this game, and that unanswered or short calls may not indicate disinterest. I'm sure in a small town, where there are only 5 female "good catches" to choose from, the technique works better. But in today's busy metropolitan areas, unresponsive women look like flakes or impossibly high maintenance or snobby ladies. There's no bigger turnoff than a snob, even if she's "hot." Conversely, the women who smile and speak up quietly are much more attractive, in my case anyway. So bottom line, if you're a man, buy this book if you want to know what's really going on. If you're a woman, frankly, I don't see how these techniques will help you, unless you live in a small town.
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Summary: The Rules are about Self-Respect!
Review: I agree with the authors that you should wait for the guy to call- all the men I've talked to think it's their job to call the woman too. It's true that if you don't go after someone who doesn't want you, then you leave your heart and life free for someone who will.
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Summary: This book does have its merits...
Review: The whole "Rules" movement has spawned a lot of controversy over the past 5 yrs or so. I think that what sparks the most controversy is parts like "don't call him and rarely return his calls", "only stay on the phone for 10 minutes", and "let him make the first move". Yes, it is the year 2000, but some things are better left the way they are. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Meaning that whether we like it or not, women should let men make the first move, do the calling, and so on. Admit it, ladies, how many times have you gotten hurt because you approached a guy and he turned you down? Don't you feel upset when you call a man first and he says "sorry, can't talk now" or gets you off the phone and never calls back? This book is about living a full, independent life, and making yourself look healthy and beautiful. I think people get confused with some of the little things though. Ellen and Sherrie do not think that a woman should turn her back on a man if she sees him looking at her or if he approaches her! They say (in Rules II), "(Rules girls) are polite, we just don't pursue men!" That is the whole concept in a nutshell. It's not about being cold and rude! If a man shows interest in you and approaches you first, you can be nice to him! Just don't be overly eager and say something like, "oh hi! you're so cute! call me please!!" lol :P The only things I do disagree with are "don't mention your career triumphs, you have to let him shine" because I think if he asks you about your career you can mention one or two great things you've done, but don't brag! Also, I think E&S seem to say that you should display an angelic temperament at all times and never get mad, which is impossible... but overall I think this book can be really helpful as long as you take it with a grain of salt!
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Summary: This book is right on the money!
Review: Speaking as a woman who has "been there, done that" and more than once, I can say with great authority that this book has it right. It's not telling you to be someone you are not or to be a scheming and manipulative person! It's showing you how to protect yourself in your relationships with members of the opposite sex. And why do you need protection? Because although women and men are individually unique, taken as a gender, women ARE different from men. Although I loathed the book "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" because Gray spends far too much time giving women advice on how to accommodate the needs of men, and too little time giving men the same advice, those parts of it which focus on the differences between the sexes are true. When women give up all control of their lives to please a man, or when men give up all control of their lives to please a woman, no one is happy. No one should be a doormat for someone else. As I see it, the same book could be written for men. If you have to do all the work of maintaining a relationship, that relationship is bad for you. The person you think is in love with you is NOT. They are in love (maybe) with what you do for them. "The Rules" is all about maintaining your own individuality and being the person you were meant to be. Somewhere there is a person who will love you for that and that alone. That is the person you want and "The Rules" will help you find him.
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