Rating: 
Summary: Educational entertainment in the realm of female entitlement
Review: In SEDUCTRESS author Betsy Prioleau attempts to restore feminine sexual power to modern women. She examines the wiles of historical seductresses in a meticulous treatment of their histories. Intense research is a hallmark of her authoritative guide to sexual sovereignty.
Early in the book she puts down myths about the sexuality of the historical seductress with voluminous facts that substantiate her theories. She categorizes the seductresses into six prototypes. The first insidious falsehood is that seductresses must be young and beautiful, but she dispels the myth with stories of very ugly enchantresses of the past. Age is a second misnomer, with celebrated allure of "old dames." The third myth centers on the intellectuality of a real seductress, with intelligence winning out over stupidity. Inspiration and artistic endeavor allowed women to build careers, tearing away the vapid housewife myth. Real seductresses were "movers and shakers," playing heavy parts in the world of government. Lastly, she explores the seductress as wildly adventurous and rakishly professional.
Prioleau next explains the art of seduction: physical art, dress and ornamentation, hygiene and cosmetic usage, artful detail of setting, body language and music, lustful experience with sex, psychological affectation, intimacy and ego enhancement for the male, along with comedy as an aphrodisiac, festivity and dramatic impact. Seduction is now, according to Prioleau, with a look at the past. The learning curve is open to every woman. "Ladies choice," she proposes.
SEDUCTRESS sets forth an archetype for the sex goddesses in ancient history, with a chapter moving from goddess mythology, through the divinity of Inanna to the Greek love goddess Aphrodite. She is described as a "lioness on the loose in the Olympian firmament." History treats her with scorn but she survives in mysticism and fairy tales. Her decline is followed by the demonic Lillith, the two-faced vision of beauty and fiery serpentine demonism.
The author writes in the meat of SEDUCTRESS with passion about Belles Laides, her so-called homely sirens. Isabella Stewart Gardiner, known as Belle, stated, "Never ever behave with pride, self-confidence, and self-conceit." Wallis Simpson, the divorced siren who caused David Windsor to abdicate the British throne, is another less than beautiful personality described. A chapter titled "Silver Foxes" is a word picture of the elder seductress such as Diane de Poiters, George Sand of the nineteenth century, and Colette, the modern aging siren. Mae West takes a big bite of this chapter, adding the categories of money and status to adulation reserved for sexual prowess.
Siren-scholars, artists, political divas and adventurers unfold in the bulk of the book. Their lives are a checklist for the women of today, to develop a new seductress prototype in the fast-paced twenty-first century world that paints sex as an act rather than an art. Prioleau suggests that women can become happier, sexier and more vital. Generous lists of notes, suggested readings and an index substantiate the author's research on her educational and stimulating topic. Difficult to categorize as a self-help book, SEDUCTRESS offers enlightenment and entertainment in the realm of female entitlement.
--- Reviewed by Judy Gigstad
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating, but Flawed
Review: Interesting thumbnail sketches of numerous female libertines of various categories. These were women who lived life on their own terms in many ways, including being sexually unrestrained.
However, the book is seriously marred by Prioleau's thoroughly irritating writing style. I was completely put off by her attempts to affect a breezy writing style that came off, rather, as smirky and superficial. I had to put the book down several times before I could finish it, as I found myself grinding my teeth in reaction to her tortured prose.
Rating: 
Summary: "The Rules" for the literati
Review: Maybe you buy into the theme of this book, which is that men are just dying to find a woman who is not only more powerful than they are, but who will cheat on them and take poor care of their children. I think women who got away with this lived in time periods where smart females were so few and far between that they seemed like a great novelty. These days, such women abound, increasing the competition to "love-addle" the few men who like ball busters and dominatrixes.
Even if you do share the author's vision, you can't help but notice that she has NO regard for the well being of men. For instance, we hear how good the seductress is for men, how she is the best thing to happen to them. and yet on practically every page is mentioned some man who killed himself or made a great fool of himself over one of these women! Her sirens openly cheated on and degraded husbands who were uxorious and loving. And FEW of these women seemed to have gotten what most of us ultimately want from love; intimacy and union. They mostly got lots of sex and presents. What woman couldn't manage to get those just by showing up naked and not bothering to do all the WORK this book entails?
Rating:
Summary: Sparks interest in feminism and history, not be-all end-all
Review: Prioleau presents a good outline for her work by selecting certain attributes from the origins of goddess worship, early religions, and the roles that women have played in history from pre-historic times. She then uses these attributes that she finds important and compares them to other living women throughout history and how their lives parallelled the same kinds of characteristics. The problem is, there is no timeline whatsoever to the women she choses to make significant - it's hard to absorb because on two pages you'll be reading about Gloria Steinem, then the next two pages are about Victoria Woodhull, then the next few pages are about Cleopatra, etc. It's enthusiastic, but sort of a party of her own about women that she thought were of importance. It's a nice conglomeration, but it makes you want more information and history because she covers so little - kind of like a paper written in college. She also tries to convince you that she is presenting the REAL facts about all of these women, but is writing in such an opinionated way it makes you wonder what she's blowing off. Obviously, it was not meant to be all-inclusive, but there is something about this book that just makes you feel like you're missing something.
Overall a very fun read, and a great resource that can lead you to other things. Great list of recommended books, good index, too.
Rating:
Summary: College-age women, run to the bookstores!
Review: Sexy and spectacularly written, Prioleau's book is a must-read, especially for college-age women. With engaging snippets about seductresses throughout history, she demonstrates that Barbie boobs and high cheek bones aren't the ticket to sexual success; charm, wit, and intelligence will get women a lot further. That's not to say that appearance isn't important, however. Prioleau's seductresses always looked and smelled their best, even if they didn't have the proportions of a Victoria's Secret model. She tears down the stereotype that it's impossible to have a good career and a fulfilled love life, citing examples of seductresses over time who've had it all. Prioleau's book is a great confidence boost. Women of all shapes and sizes have the power to seduce, she claims, and whether or not they choose to use this power is up to them. The text is engaging and witty--and nearly impossible to put down. And in a time of date-rape, easy hook-ups, and male passivity, it's particularly relevant for women on college campuses. I can't recommend it highly enough for women of my generation. Get to the bookstores before they run out!
Rating:
Summary: required reading
Review: The only problems I have with the book are the racist comments:
one woman is described as having a face "like a Spanish busboy"
and another had a "cigar store Indian's nose" yet another "the face of a jowly Sioux warrior",to cite only three (there were more), and the authors' assumption that her readers are all college educated, financially secure urban professionals. Past that, the book is spectacular. Perhaps a bit too relentless in its use of current silly slang, I think it could possibly change the life of the woman who truly heeds its message. Women have been lied to, and to this very day, about what men want, and what makes a woman irresistable. Obviously, women are men's intellectual equals, have greater emotional intellegence, and a sexuality far,FAR more powerful than a man's-although few women actually discover just how powerful; such are the results of enduring misogynistic lies , the reviling of truly sexually free women as "ho's" and sluts, and clever conditioning. Prioleau's research cited herein bears this out. Her chapters on older and "homely" women are also right on target. Misogyny is still horrifyingly rampant in the world, especially here in the West, in ever more subtle-and not so subtle- disguises, where elderly women and "ugly" women are seen as disgusting, dehumanised/desexualised (except in pornography where they are used for shock value) and treated as figures of fun and derision by men everywhere. Women's sphere of acceptablility to men in general is very small, as we are painfully aware. And not just to men on the romantic/sexual make, but in the world of work as well. But, I do not wish to turn this review into a rant.. PLEASE read the book, and explore the notes and suggested reading list in back. Buy one for your daughter and your mother- and your grandmother! The book's most cogent message is that self knowledge and self love is the only path to attracting true love and adoration.And we as women cannot hear that enough!
Rating: 
Summary: poor history
Review: The women in this book are portrayed as invulnerable, superhuman.
Anyone who has read other biographies written about them (esp.
Catherine the Great and Edith Piaf) will note that they come across very differently in any other book written about them. It seems as though this author chose only to tell what would support
her theme. So not only is this book poor history, it tends to make the reader feel inadequate. I would never give this to a young woman or girl to read.
Rating:
Summary: Power, Not Love!
Review: When I heard Betsy interviewed, I was drawn to buy this book. I expected it to offer wise counsel, but the more I read it, the more angry and depressed I became. At times, I wondered if it was a joke. I couldn't believe she was presenting certain of these women and their lifestyle as an ideal, as something to aim for, to attain. I could understand a historical gathering together of these women, an unbiased exploration, but not the slant that I perceived her to present.
Yes, it is a positive boost to know that men are attracted to a woman's energy and not some idealized idea of looks. Men and women alike. What is going on here is power. Powerful men are infatuated with women who tease and deny them. Is this the model we want to give our daughters? I am not a prude, but I get no sense of love in this book, no sense of even honoring another individual. Neither men nor women come off well. Powerful men trample women. Women use power to gain and control men. I fail to see how any of this makes the world a better place. I see no "Lost Art of Love" in this book, only women using power to control and increase their boring list of conquests and possessions.
Her theory seems to be that bringing back the goddess will introduce some new energy into women's lives. Well, I would rather be a drudge than think it was loving, good, or kind to steal another woman's husband. I'm not clear how this book thinks it is a good thing to idealize women, many of whom were abused and sacrificed from the earliest ages, and so learned to do the same, and call this a positive thing. I really am unable to wrap my mind around what Betsy says she is trying to do. Infatuation is not love. Using people is not love. This book is not about love, and I felt angrier and angrier the more I read, of jewels and clothes and land being given, and somehow this being interpreted as love and offering a positive role model for our daughters.
This book is about survival, selfishness, indulgence, self-absorption, infatuation, control, and manipulation. It is not about love.
Give me Eleanor Roosevelt or Mother Theresa as a role model any day. These are women of love.
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