Rating: 
Summary: So much to say -- so little room.
Review: I thought that the premise of this book was excellent. I loved the idea of a book that explored all the different roles that women play today -- and grounding them in the historical background of how they have come to be. However, I think that this book ended up tackling too much in too few pages. The result is the feeling that you are often simply skimming the surface of the intended deeper meaning. There are a few passages where Cokie relates significant personal experiences (such as the one with her dying sister) that are deeper and very touching. But the lack of story-telling in the other chapters made me feel more like I was hurriedly skimming down a list of facts. I would have loved to have heard more of the stories behind some of the amazing women that Cokie speaks about in her book. Unfortunately, overall, the book lacks the kind of "in-depth" reporting that you would otherwise hear from Cokie on NPR.
Rating: 
Summary: I thought the book was a little shallow and arrogant.
Review: I wanted to know more about Cokie Roberts. She is well connected and has a wonderful family. I never felt she let us into her life. So, the book is as satisfying as the morning paper. The depth of all her stories are like a 2 page newpaper column that leave you wanting to read the book. Where's the beef?
Rating: 
Summary: Not what I expected, but I wasn't disappointed
Review: I was expecting some heavy going from this, my book group's selection for this month. I admit, I was surprised to find this book was "light," almost chatty in its tone. I could have lived without some of the sketchy historical tales of women from the past, but Roberts' reflections on her own experiences hit home with me. This is a woman who you would expect to be a die-hard careerist. Instead, she shows how to balance life with grace -- the singular challenge that continues to face women today. I was comforted by her sanity. She remains a personal role model.
Rating:
Summary: Missed Opportunity
Review: I was interested in Roberts' life and find her accomplishments inspiring, her professional status admirable, but after reading this book, I felt less inclined to find her accomplishments as notable. Her chapters on her friends and family and work connections step over the line of good taste into name-dropping, and make a middle-class reader who lacks such connections and priveleged upbringing almost bitter. The most dissatisfying aspect of the book, however, is how Roberts teases the reader with tidbits of her life, but keeps the door shut on the substantive personal information, as if she writes from a great distance about her subject and is unwilling for the reader to really know her. Perhaps this is an occupational hazard for a really good journalist-- perpetual self effacement-- but it weakens the effectivenss of the book. Most damning is her cliched rendering of her marriage and family life. She glosses difficult passages and frustrations to the point where the reader feels less than a woman unless she has the same kind of "storybook" life. Roberts' focus was lost in trite pleasantries. The real contribution would have been a more indepth look at her life and family. Too bad she missed her chance.
Rating:
Summary: Not A Must-Read
Review: I was intrigued by this book, and as a fan of Cokie Roberts, I read this book on a recent vacation. While I am all for praising our acccomplished family members, I don't charge to tell the public about them. I was bewildered by all the close relationships that she had, and think many memories have been embellished by time. I couldn't really figure out where she was going for most of the book, and believe many of her stories would have been better saved for delivery as eulogies at the funerals of the various people she panders to in this "book." I think this book must have been written in conjunction with a course of therapy.
Rating:
Summary: Women hold society together
Review: Interesting history of women in different fields, and, importantly, shows why they don't have the same interests as men in all the same numbers.
Avows that neither gender has the desire to be the other, nor wants the other to be the same as them. Something that many of today's so-call social thinkers seem confused about. Many such thinkers seem not to want either gender to be the way they are, or not to want anyone to be an individual with their own values and choices.
Roberts demonstrates that it is the women who hold a free society together -- who make it a society, who tend to keep associations with old friends and family, while men tend to neglect these. While men and women share more than they differ psychologically, their differences are important. At their best they form a partnership, gaining more from life -- each with different, but overlaping roles.
(I've never had much use for Cokie Roberts as a political commentator, and as shown by the politicians she admires in this book, and as you would expect from government supported radio, NPR personnel are pretty much knee-jerk left wingers, favoring expanded government regulation and management of citizen's lives on all fronts. Fortunately, this is unimportant in this book.)
Rating: 
Summary: A touching account of her life and relationship with her mot
Review: It moved me, having had a socially active mother myself. All women should read this story that includes annectotes of pivotal women through the history of the USA. A must read!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully warm fuzzy.
Review: Not only did I learn a lot about Cokie Roberts in this book, I also learned a lot about her mother, Lindy Boggs, a "celebrity" in her own right, and other women who helped shape our society in the last century. It was heartwarming to read about Roberts' relationship with her husband (particularly in light of the fact that he passed away recently), her mother, and her children and the hard choices she had to continually make between her children, her marriage, and her career. As she told her story, she wove into it bits of history as they occurred and stories about the women who made this history. All in all, one of the most engrossing and charming books I've read in a long time.
Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for Any Woman
Review: There are no new women's issues ... Roberts hits this point home. It's only recently that women have started turning against one another to justify their own decisions ... be it decisions in matrimony, child rearing, career ... whatever. This book reminds women of the bonds we've shared since time began and that it's women who hold society together, who hold families together, who hold each other together. This is a perfect gift for any woman on your list ... I'll be giving it for Mother's Day. Great job, Cokey ... from one DC native to another.
Rating:
Summary: A gold doubloon disquised as a book
Review: This book is a must for anyone who has been a daughter and has had a mother. The use of language in describing some of the most important relationships of our lives is what sets this book apart from many others that tackle the same topic. I loved this book and have given it to many friends as a gift.
| 
