Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Every so often I read a book that makes me groan, wishing that I'd seen the connection first, that I were a writer, that I'd written THIS book. In a class with Sjoo and Moore, Eisler, and Merlin Stone, The Alphabet vs. the Goddess connects the dots and follows them into our collective future. The question of the past few decades "HOW did humankind transition from matrifocal culture to patriarchal, and why?" is answered brilliantly in this book (and finally, a much more plausible answer than just 'IndoEuropean Invaders'). I LOVED this book, it will go high on my list of titles to recommend. Even if you are immersed in academia, studying linguistics and philosophy (as I once was) don't worry about the negative review posted below -- take it as an indication of how revolutionary this work is. Its a book I am tempted to immediately read again, the second time with a highlighter in hand.
Rating: 
Summary: Shlain's grasp of linguistics is far too weak
Review: In this book, Shlain argues that the adoption of alphabetic scripts in ancient times triggered massive, unwelcome changes in apparently unconnected areas of human thought and society, chiefly involving shifts in the direction of 'linear', non-holistic thinking, an excessive concern with logic and science, and patriarchical systems in which women and their ideas have been suppressed and undervalued. In developing his case, he naturally ranges widely outside his own field of expertise (surgery). I am able to comment authoritatively only on his linguistics; but, given that the discipline is so central to his thesis, the major problems which he has in this area are crucial. These include: a) sporadic confusion of languages and their writing systems; b) sporadic confusion of alphabetic writing and writing systems generally; c) neglect of syllabic writing systems; d) some inaccurate and dated terminology/perspectives on logographic writing systems such as that of Chinese; e) utter confusion of phonemes and speech sounds (some specific comments in this area are wildly wrong); f) adoption of a wrong and misleading definition of the term 'alphabet'; g) apparently limited awareness of the range of views among contemporary linguists; h) adoption of speculative and partisan accounts of the early stages of human language and society; i) inadequately supported claims to the effect that many major historical developments were largely caused by the adoption of alphabetic script (it is not difficult to see the effects of a near-universal causal factor if one is determined to do so; but much more systematic and objective investigation would be required before one could actually demonstrate the validity of such a thesis). Whatever Shlain's other strengths, he should have acquired a much stronger grasp of linguistics before developing theories in this area. My extended comments on Shlain's linguistics appear in The Skeptic 19:3 (pp 42-44).
Rating: 
Summary: Overwhelming
Review: Packed with much raw information, Shlain examines history with an interesting twist. Makes a certain amount of sense to me, but I think he beats the subject to death by the end. What he lacks in detailed arguement he makes up for with volume. It is ironic that there are no pictures in a book which decries the written word!
Rating: 
Summary: Provocative reading
Review: Dr. Shlain has written a provocative account of the pervasive and often unacknowledged powers of right and left brain functions. Other thinkers, be they artists such as Dr. Betty Edwards in her classic "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" or businessman turned researcher, Robert Monroe in his "Journeys Out of the Body" have explored the effects of this division of labor into right and left hemispheres. Shlain's approach is that of the self-taught socio-historian and anthropologist. His thesis leads to many more possibilities in interpreting the evolution of our civilizations. It is a must read for anyone who wants to grasp a broad perspecitive of human behavior over the millennia. It might be required reading for a Women's Study course ,providing philosophical basis for understanding trends in gender-based roles. Dr. Shlain's insights into the possible cause and effect of collective thinking is startling, fresh, inspired, and controversial. He is making propositions and disavows absolutes in favor of a more expansive viewpoint. Like his book "Art and Physics" Shlain breaks the bonds of tradtional thinking by offering an intelligent and plasuible perspective. His fondness for the written word makes his book a delight to read. In Dr. Shlain's exploration of male and female dominant cultures, he is not porposing that we return to women-rule, if indeed that ever existed, any more than he suggests that we return to the agrarian lifestyle and put our technological advances behind us. His passionate, intellectual process is to understand why societies have evolved as they have and how seeing beneath the surface of influences can free us. The book reveals a genius for synthesis and novelty of thinking. To read it can give a new vision to the possibilities of our evolving society. There is a timely pertinenece to his insight: our times are intensely graphic , that is, both word AND image-oriented, due to technological advances. We are coming into a time of synthesis. Whether you agree with Dr. Shlain or not, you won't be left without some surprisingly new opinions about who we are and why we've allowed certain dominations to continue. Perhaps the time has come historically when equality is possible : the balance between right and left brain, between the male and female--is being embedded into our collective consciousness. Shlain's book will open your eyes as to why that is.
Rating:
Summary: Goddess
Review: Non-Fiction books written by well known feminists have frequently alluded to the existences of Goddess Worship. Add to that all the pre-our- history artifacts depicting female images that have been discovered in the Mediterranean part of the world sure indicates to me that there is a fit here for this theory. When you recognize that the people in power (primarily religious) withheld the knowledge of reading and writing until the advent of the printing press from all peoples it is easy to make the leap that Man was heady/mad with power. Another theory in my mind is that during this same period the field of medicine flowered (recording experiences-written word) midwives services were curtailed or discredited by Man who called it gynecology. Before this time Woman/Midwives provided herbal medicine and childbirth. Man wrested this service from Woman, and we are just now beginning to take back control over our bodies. Notice the number of women going into the field of medicine, especially obstetrics and gynecology. This books fits perfectly with Womens history.Thank you Leonard Shlain
Rating: 
Summary: Nice try, but. . .
Review: This sounded like a great theory. Literacy battles goddess worship throughout the centuries. There's lots of interesting historical info, especially on the conflict between religion as preached by its founders (Jesus and Muhammed, for example) and the brutalities inflicted by subsequent followers of the religion. But the author never connects his historical illustrations to his stated theory. Here's an example of his typical argument: the witchcraft persecutions peaked in the 15th century. The printing press was invented in the 15th century. Increased literacy therefore led to persecution of women. Right. The book never comes through with any real proofs. Right brain/left brain is old stuff and that's all he really ends up with. Summary: a big disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: EASILY my favorite non-fiction book ever.
Review: A complete but fun-to-read condensed history of man kind, religion, women and cultures. It is the most incredible look at humans imaginable. Read this book and you'll never look at your left & right brains the same again.
Rating:
Summary: Shattering the Paradigm
Review: Whatever the value that can be associated with the work, one must ultimately agree that it destroys the static, unpredictive, and merely descriptive nature of history and sociology (as Noam Chomsky would say). Shlain completes an intricate, iron-clad web of cause and effect that at worst is compelling and insightful. The book sees past the sociological archetypes of religious and ethnic dynamics as the SOLE forces behind human development. However, the book is not simply reductionist, but instead, inclusive of many different human aspects tied together with the one skill that separates humans from the animal kingdom - communication (much more than the simple communication of: Watch out, predator! or I'm ready to concieve). In short, your mind will reel.
Rating:
Summary: New Age Bigotry
Review: Okay, I'm trying to incite. When people look back at the 1990s, though, they'll wonder why people went so gaga for with the "Mars/Venus" hypothesis which reduced most debate on gender issues to a comic book level. Feminists and sympathizers, think. Are women innately illogical? Are men completely devoid of spirituality and intuition? This book just rearranges stereotypes in a manner so they sound progressive. I don't doubt the author's good intentions but his level of scholarship is just bad. To challenge the book's general thesis point by point: there are serious reasons to doubt whether the goddess societies he described ever existed (those who take this as a point of faith won't care, of course, so I'll move on); there are MANY examples of preliterate societies which survived into the modern age which didn't and don't resemble what the author describes (and none, literally, which did or do); should the question of "what comes next" really hinge on some anachronistic notion that men and women might just as well be of different species, isn't this the kind of nonsense we're trying to move beyond? This is a bad book. Gave it an extra star because it might expose some people to ideas which are new to them, those who like the Mars/Venus dichotemy will give it extra points. I have no doubt, however, that all of these books will look silly ten years from now, this is the 90s equivilent of books which predicted that we would run out of oil by 2000, or global cooling would be a major problem, or that Japan would be the coming superpower, written for the techno new age feminist self-help crowd.
Rating:
Summary: Provocative Connections
Review: As a professor of communication, humanities and gender studies, I am fascinated by AVG. My teaching perspective has always been to guide students towards discovering connections between and among seemingly disparate aspects of human communication behaviors. In this provocative book, Shlain offers a three stage analysis for connecting the rise and fall and rise of feminine perceptual processing. The first stage is his review of early, nonliterate cultures in which the goddess was revered and feminine ways of knowing were important aspects in many of these cultures. There is a great deal of interpretive evidence from archaeology and cultural anthropology suggesting that these preliterate cultures were often matriarchal and it was the women who guided and directed the movement, settlement and structure of the culture. Shlain offers a representative view of this evidence. The second stage is the development of written languages and the alphabet. Again, there is a significant amount of evidence that all cultures, when becoming literate, shift to or maintain patriarchal control and Shlain offers a selective review of this evidence. The third stage, or the one we are moving into now, according to Shlain, is the return to feminine ways of knowing, created by the shift in information processing created by the increase of electronic visual imagery in our society. It is this suggestion that creates the most intriguing and provocative part of the book. His argument is based, partly, of his knowledge of the neurological processes of the brain - the researched different functions of the right and left brain. His thesis, that feminine (or right brain) ways of perceiving will again become prominant in our culture, is a profound assertion worthy of continued discussion and examination. I am also fascinated by some of the remarks of his negative critics who argue that, from their perspective (though they do not claim it as a perspective but rather as the "truth") Shlain's research is "sloppy scholarship," "full of unsupported assertions," "psuedo history." They also find specific errors which, in their opinion, negate the entire thesis of the book. In an interesting way, many of the negative comments reflect the biases towards masculine, patriarchal, compartmentalized thinking - exactly the kind of linearity explored in AVG. If Shlain's critics had, indeed, read his book carefully, I suspect they would have realized that he offers ONE perspective (NOT the "truth") that invites the reader to think about the connections between written literacy, linear thinking, and the diminishment of feminine perceptual processes in our past and present cultures. From my perspective, he gives us a lot to think about even if some of his evidence does not pass the test of scholarly precision.
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