Rating: 
Summary: Putting the obey back in
Review: I collect books that have movies made from them. One I overlooked until recently was "The Stepford Wives." Needles to say it was out of print in the U.S. So I bought the Amazon U.K. copy. This had Film Classic written on the front cover. I did not give it a thought until I read the introduction written by the person who wrote the screenplay. It was marvelous to read his thoughts on the differences between the book and the movie. I am going to look for more books in this series. In the mean time I am leaving pointers on the refrigerator for my wife. I remind her of the leaps in technology since the 70's and that I have to find the local Men's Association. (Fat chance)
Rating:
Summary: Mindboggling!!!!!!! For many reasons!!!!!!!!
Review: I find this book mindboggling for many reasons. First written in 1972 is it pro feminism or anti women? It is a great book for discussion. The characters are pretty traditional for 1972. The women place their carreers as second to home and husband. They take their husbands identity. There is the part of me that thinks this book is a reminder that we have to be true to ourselves and not allow ourseles to blend in to MRS. HUSBAND. I also see it as everyman's fantasy. Heck, It's mine to find a housekeeper like these women. A great book, I am sad that it is so hard to find. It needs to be back in print.
Rating: 
Summary: how to kill your wife and get away with it..?
Review: I finished this book at one sitting. It was definitely a page-turner, with a lot of amusing/awakening observations on the life of American suburban 'hausfraus'. At first I assumed it to be a recent book, first published probably in the 90s, and the reference early in the book to Women's Lib, forming a NOW chapter in the town, having Betty Friedan as a speaker in a women's gathering, etc. seemed out of time and place. Later, I checked the book information page, and finding out that it was originally published in 1972, I could see how it can be read as a book on male paranoia about feminism that'd begun having visible impact back then. Reading this as a story about how to kill your wife and justify the act is but one of several possible readings, though. Even after the 'unhappy' ending where our heroine goes through the same horrible fate as the other women in Stepford did, it is difficult to say whether the message is "Women, be docile!" or "Look, men can be so wicked." It all depends on how you look at it. It can be a satire on feminism. Or, it can be a satire on male resistance to it. At any rate, it is a book that rarely stops engaging the reader.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, but a Letdown at the End
Review: I found this book in a library sale. I read "Sliver" some time ago and thought that book's idea was good and the writing style was quite economical -- but the ending was a huge letdown. Apparently, this is a habit of Levin's -- "The Stepford Wives" also takes a fairly interesting idea, has great execution, and finishes badly. Though in this case, it may be attributed more to current pop culture vs. the pop culture of the '70s. Let me elaborate: If you haven't noticed, late '60s/early '70s movies either end in a serious maiming of the protagonist (sometimes even death). "Soylent Green" comes to mind. So does "Cool Hand Luke." How about "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"? Believe me, if you look, that's how they all end -- with the lead character in some form of a sorry state. This is a far cry from the movies from the '80s and beyond -- all the Rambos, all the Schwarzennegers, etc. So it comes as no surprise that "The Stepford Wives" also feature a similar ending. Kudos to Ira Levin for using feminism as a backdrop -- it's smartly done. Is he saying it's bad or good? I don't think he's saying one way or the other. It's just a cool way to tell a story about men vs. women, especially when feminism was taking the country by storm. - SJW
Rating:
Summary: A scary story
Review: I found this book very interesting. The Stepford Wives was the first book that I have read written by Ira Levin. He has really impressed me. Joanna, her husband and her two children move from the city in a small town, where the wives are all beautiful, nice and addicted to housework. Joanna is a modern, independent woman and she wants to motivate the other women to set up a women association. The story sounds so normal and the unbelievable coincidences are well integrate and you don't notice it so fast. But when you to notice what's going on, you understand the Joanna's fears and terror and you sympathize with her. The end is the only thing, that I didn't enjoy. It hasn't convinced me and I think it's very unbelievable. But you have to know that I enjoy a happy ending very much!
I just can recommend it and you will not be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: a strange story
Review: I have read the book "The Stepford Wives" in English at school. We had to read a few pages every week. At the beginning of the book, I thought: „What a nonsense!" When I didn't have to read more, I stopped reading. But I did continue and I must say now I changed my opinion. After the first ten or twenty pages the story became very thrilling.
The story is simple. Joanna Eberhart, including her husband and her two children move from a big city to Stepford, a little rural town. The women there are very strange and they are only interested in housework. But Joanna finds a friend, called Bobby, who is not interested in housework either. But then, Bobby has a second honeymoon with her husband, and when she returns she has changed like the other housewives, too. What happened?
Rating:
Summary: An Agreeable Afternoon Reading
Review: I must admit a trailer for the "new" movie prompted me to find a copy of this book (which I found at my local library). I enjoyed it on a purely entertaining level. I did not read it from a feminist or science fiction point of view. After finishing the book in one reading I was not disturbed by the anti-climatic ending. Ira Levin let the reader imagine and conclude what happens to Joanne and Bobby. This book is great "no-brainer" and I would recommend it only as a beach book, or if traveling .
Rating:
Summary: Horror-fied
Review: I was dying-haha-to know what happened to the main character after seeing all those commercials with Nichole Kidman leaping back from that robot of herself. "Did that really happen? Is that really a story?" Coming from the man who wrote, "Rosemary's Baby" anything is possible. Its quite short and quite disturbing. After finishing the story, I didn't want to turn out the light. But nothing was going to get me! It wasn't the same horror as a classic horror movie, slash and trash the girl... It was almost like a "threatening" horror.
What would happen if women lost everything---what if it were all taken away and replaced with what your husband and children want as a wife and mother? It makes me think about how central a womans role is in her household....the whole story makes me think---totally! Disturbing, very disturbing. I can't help but wonder what a man would feel and say about this, or a woman who has grown children and a lifelong relationship with her husband. Would these people feel powerless, unsettled? Or just creeped out with a smile on their face? Whatever the feeling, the marvelous and unusual feeling, this story evokes these strongly in me. It was published the year I was born....
Rating:
Summary: Horror-fied
Review: I was dying-haha-to know what happened to the main character after seeing all those commercials with Nichole Kidman leaping back from that robot of herself. "Did that really happen? Is that really a story?" Coming from the man who wrote, "Rosemary's Baby" anything is possible. Its quite short and quite disturbing. After finishing the story, I didn't want to turn out the light. But nothing was going to get me! It wasn't the same horror as a classic horror movie, slash and trash the girl... It was almost like a "threatening" horror.
What would happen if women lost everything---what if it were all taken away and replaced with what your husband and children want as a wife and mother? It makes me think about how central a womans role is in her household....the whole story makes me think---totally! Disturbing, very disturbing. I can't help but wonder what a man would feel and say about this, or a woman who has grown children and a lifelong relationship with her husband. Would these people feel powerless, unsettled? Or just creeped out with a smile on their face? Whatever the feeling, the marvelous and unusual feeling, this story evokes these strongly in me. It was published the year I was born....
Rating:
Summary: Surprise guilty pleasure
Review: I was fortunate enough to find this little book in a used book store for 25 cents and I was glad I did. I flew through this in 2 hours and couldn't put it down. Joanna Eberhart is seemingly content with the move to the suburbs and is hopeful for a brand new start. However, things are not always as they appear. Her neighbors are beautiful, vapid, and obsessively content with their household chores. Joanna is a no holds barred feminist and so finds their behavior strange. She manages to befriend two other women new to Stepford and they too, are concerned with the lack interest displayed by the Stepford wives. One by one, her new friends are whisked away by their husbands on a "weekend for two", only to return beautiful and suddenly bent on domestic duties. More disturbing is the fact that the husbands belong to a "Mens' Only" association and women are not allowed. That is how it begins. The husbands join the elusive and mysterious group and strange things begin to happen. Joanna tries to alert her husband to these strange occurances and is distraught by his theory and his advice to talk to "someone". Who can she trust now? She soon discovers that the Stepford women were active in Feminst groups but disbanded years before. Will Joanna be next? Or is it all in her mind? You'll have to read this to find out. This book was a complete surprise, not to mention disturbing. But as a guilty pleasure read, I highly recommend it!
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