La autora, Catherine Townsend, que no se esconde tras ningún seudónimo y que se define como "a ratos zorrón, a ratos romántica empedernida", presenta en esta novela una visión moderna, sincera, desinhibida, sexy y divertida del sexo y del amor, y de como cambiar la búsqueda del Sr. Perfecto por la del Sr. Perfecto para este momento.
I wish I knew Catherine Townsend personally. No, not for that reason! Quite apart from anything else, it's clear I'm not her type. I'd just like to be able to meet for a drink every now and then, and catch up on the hair-raising gossip. I can already hear her:
"Manny! Darling! I'm sorry I'm late again. Oh, how sweet of you, you've bought me a dirty Martini. I really need this, I've been shopping for underwear all afternoon. I spent over £250, aren't I bad? Let me show you. Well, what do you think? You're right, he doesn't deserve it, but I'm a generous girl, and I am just crazy about him. Nearly as crazy as I am about expensive underwear. I think I need another one, where is that waiter? No, no, my turn. What kind of single malt is it? So, let me tell you about how I ended up in a threesome the other day. I was at Mark's place, and we'd had a few, and then his really cute flatmate showed up - you know, the one I told you about? Mm-mm! So, I can't remember how it happened, but we started talking about nipples, and it was just, you know, conversationally necessary for me to take my top off to show him... What? Oh, I don't care, let them listen, it's all going to be in my next book. Anyway..."
Pues ok. No está mal, pero me falta reflexión y profundidad en los temas que abarca. Al final es todo como un hilo de los tíos con los que ha follado y como anécdotas graciosas de la vida. Innecesario.
I'm having soo much trouble getting through this thing. Sure sex in a book is nice to some extend, but this is just too much sex and not enough story for me. I'm still reading because half-read books annoy me but I'm not too sure if I will actually get to the end of this one. At least the repetitiveness of the 'meeting guy, sex happening, bitching about it to friends' theme is good for getting to sleep I suppose - I now doze off before I even finish 5 sentences :(
Where to start with this one? It's definitely a mixed bag for me. I picked it up through my monthly subscription with Scribd, so I'm at the liberty to be a bit more adventurous with my choices. If I had specifically paid money just to download this book, I might feel a bit cheated.
First off, this author was born and raised in America. However, she uses so much British terminology in her writing that it reminded me of Madonna. You know, the "I'll pretend I'm from across the pond, but everyone knows I'm really from Michigan" thing. I read quite a bit of British fiction from actual British authors, so I knew what she was talking about. If the dialogue from her friends was the only instance of this happening, I'd have no issue. But she refers to her own mother as "mum" throughout the book and it drove me nuts.
And of course, there's the sex. Lots of it. Seemingly with little consequence. Oh, yes, there were consequences, she just chooses to address them flippantly. It's a blink and you missed it passage that amounts to little more than a page of exposition. Instead of being a wake up call, she dismisses it like it's nothing and is off to buy her next overpriced pair of shoes without a care in the world.
And the ending -or lack thereof- made me want to scream at my Kindle. After investing my time in getting to the final paragraph, I wanted more payoff than what I got. Maybe she's planning a sequel. But this wasn't even really a cliffhanger ending. It just stopped and felt unfinished, like the last sentences about finding good friends and an unorthodox lifestyle were slapped on as an afterthought.
I did like the author's sense of humor. And the tone if the book was that it felt like I was reading her journal. She's certainly open about her life and it was interesting to see how someone completely opposite of my personality lives.
But now that I've read it, I realize that I'm very happy being boring.
The story starts off mildly then takes off into a torrent of relationships and sex, sex, and more sex. If you don't know much about sex you will know a bit after reading this. The challenges Cat faces made me wonder if she was playing around as much as her partners were. But that is just an opinion. I kept wanting more but when I got to the end I was disappointed. Not that I'm a person who likes happy, sad or no ending to the story, I just expected more. For something that just gets you away from reality for a bit, this will do.
Ugh, this woman deserves to be alone. I hate when women justify their bad behavior by claiming that it's ok because men have been doing it for ages. Maybe it's not ok for men to treat people so badly either? Also, she's a pretty terrible writer and as far as memoirs go, it was pretty weak. But from what I understand, it was bought in an airport by a dear friend of mine and well, it is perfect for a crappy long flight if the movies are bad.
Fattene una ragione, Catherine: non sei né Belle de Jour, né Nick Hornby...
Catherine Townsend è un’americana che sbarca a Londra alla ricerca del successo giornalistico, e lo trova tenendo una rubrica fissa sull’Independent dedicata al sesso: innanzitutto le sue avventure, poi consigli, opinioni, testimonianze... Questo libro è una specie di autobiografia, ovviamente a netta tendenza erotica. In effetti la frequenza delle avventure dell’autrice arriva quasi ad eguagliare quella dei rapporti di Belle de Jour nel suo “Diario di una squillo perbene”, con la differenza che quest’ultima li aveva (anche) per denaro. Il problema è che Catherine si sforza di avere la leggerezza (anche scrittoria) dell’anonima ma non troppo autrice del suddetto diario, ma non le riesce troppo bene, e non fino in fondo; da un lato afferma di riuscire a slegare agevolmente l’amore dal sesso e di far sesso per il gusto di farlo, dall’altro cade innamorata in maniera rovinosa di alcuni suoi amanti, da un lato dice di non voler dei legami, dall’altro scappa imbufalita quando uno dei suoi amanti le annuncia che sta per sposarsi ma che, per quanto concerne loro due, tutto continuerà come prima... Anche l’autocoscienza di genere, quella che ad Hornby riusciva tanto bene in chiave maschile, per lei è un tentativo abbastanza non risolto. Il massimo, comunque, lo raggiunge a pagina 216. In vacanza a Roma, conosce un italiano, Antonio. Passano la serata a flirtare, poi finiscono a baciarsi con evidente intensità. Lei lo lascia per salire in albergo. Lui la invita a uscire, via telefono, per la sera successiva, lei rifiuta. Lui prova a telefonarle e le manda vari messaggi sms, che lei ignora. Alla fine lui le manda questo: “Cancella pure il mio numero, perché sei stata maleducata a rifiutare il mio invito. Se fossi stato più giovane avrei dato spazio allo stupido infantilismo, ma trovo che la tua ipocrisia sia alquanto triste”. Lei si permette pure di offendersi. Ma, considerato il punto a cui erano arrivati, le insistenze di lui non mi parrebbero esattamente stalking... e passare una sera a baciarsi, senza concedere nessun seguito né quella stessa sera né le successive, che cos’è se non stupido infantilismo? Insomma, niente di che. Ho fatto una certa fatica a leggere questo libro, nonostante il genere “leggero” a metà tra l’erotico e la chick-lit, anche per la sintassi decisamente ingarbugliata e la narrazione poco fluente (ma magari anche la traduttrice ci ha messo del suo, gli Stile Libero Einaudi mi hanno già riservato spiacevoli sorprese sotto questo profilo). Persino la copertina l’ho trovata irritante, visto che declina l’eterno soggetto erotico “piedi nudi e scarpe in mano” con un taglio d’immagine che fa sembrare la tipa raffigurata affetta da elefantiasi. Per finire, mi viene da chiedermi quante, delle “avventure di una notte” della protagonista, ambiscano a considerarsi tali. Non mi si fraintenda; ce ne fossero di donne che riescono a vivere il sesso senza intorcinati alibi sentimentali... ma dopo una notte sarebbe bello che - con la stessa leggerezza - possano essercene due, tre, eccetera... Non è il no, è il no dopo il si che disturba gli uomini.
Tengo muchos problemas con este libro. Muchos. No me parece mal practicar sexo seguro con el consentimiento de todas las partes implicadas por mera diversión. Lo que me parece mal es usarlo como sustituto o evasión a ciertos aspectos de tu vida. Lo mismo aplica al deporte, la comida o el consumismo en general. Y vamos un poco más allá... Por cosas que cuenta de su infancia y adolescencia, quizás no tenga una buena relación con el sexo como pretende hacernos creer la autora... Después está el tema del alcohol. La señora se pasa todo el libro bebiendo. TODO. Considero que se normalizan el consumo del alcohol y el sexo de forma inadecuada, vaya. Después están los personajes... Insulsos, frívolos, superficiales y hasta la protagonista tiene toques sexistas (aunque hay que recordar que la novela es de 2007, creo). Los tiempos verbales cambian de uno a otro de una forma bastante rara, hay frases donde faltan palabras y no tienen sentido y dentro de un flashback hay otro flashback... Mucho flashback, muchísimo. No es mi estilo. ¿Una protagonista fuerte e independiente? Hasta cierto punto... Es la mítica de "hasta que llegue el indicado disfruta del equivocado"... pero ella sigue teniendo esa necesidad de tener pareja. La considero pese a todo una mujer empoderada, no creo que la búsqueda de pareja sea incompatible con eso, ojo. Debería haber conectado con la protagonista, pero no sé por qué no lo hice. Seguro que en 2007 fue una novela muy feminista. La trama muy floja. El final horrendo.
Sin embargo, tiene cosas buenas... más o menos: 1. Es una novela de mamarracheo, cosa que no tiene porque ser mala. A mí me gustan muchas de ese estilo 2. Intenta normalizar la sexualidad femenina. Para mí es un objetivo que no acaba de llegar a buen puerto, pero oye, esto no deja de ser algo subjetivo 3. Intenta poner a una mujer que no dependa de un hombre. Y, realmente, aunque la protagonista quiera a un hombre en su vida y tenga sus dramas de chupito, llanto y helado, no necesita a un hombre en su vida. Para mí es otro concepto mal desarrollado, pero... 4. Aporta datos curiosos/interesantes en relación al sexo 5. Digamos que se aprenden bastantes cosas sobre el sexo... que una mujer con una vida sexual activa normalmente sabe, pero que otras no tienen por qué saber
"I've met the man of my dreams. I'm moving to London. We broke up. Sex-sex-anal sex-sex-sex- threesome-sex-sex-sex. I met the man of my dreams again. Oh, he's married. That's over. Sex-sex-sex-sex-sex-sex. I've met the man of my dreams again. I need a visa. I could marry my friend. The man of my dreams is not into commitment. I'm calling Britney (yes, Britney) a skank. Yes, I'm slut-shaming Britney. Sex-sex-sex-sex-sex -sex party. I've met the man of my dreams again. I love him. I'm marrying my friend though but only after I fuck him in the bum. Sex-sex-sex with the love of my life. I'll tell him I'm married after I get married. Do I really want to do this? Yes, I do."
the end
She gets three stars for the writing. That one incident of slut-shaming really bothers me so she loses a star for that.
This book took me a few years to finish, picking it up and putting it down. I first got hold of it because I had seen Townsend's column and thought it looked a bit juicy and exciting. It was not quite as thrilling as I thought it would be but it was definitely a nice end of the day, sitting with a brew and live vicariously through someone else's love life kind of read !
Es mi primer contacto con la autora, me llamó la atención el título en una tienda de segunda mano y bueno… no creo que repita. Tampoco es malo, tampoco es bueno… simplemente entretenido. Quizás para unas noches solitarias y donde necesitas algo ligerito y gracioso que leer. Me recuerda un poco a una copia barata de Carrie en Sex and the City, pero quitándole la magia que desprende ella.
Gratuitous nonsense. This is more of a teenager's wet dream than an actual book. No fluency or plot progression in any meaningful way. Certainly not written by an author with any literary experience or training.
Un libro bueno para pasar tiempo en un vuelo, y sí que contiene unas cuantas ideas bastante interesantes para la cama, aprobadas por la autora, pero leyendolo con gafas moradas puestos resulta en cierto nivel de decepción, como su apoyo a clubs de striptease.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
'Secrets of a Sexual Adventuress' is the sub-title; so obviously this is meant for women - indeed I bought it for my wife, who's not averse to a bit of 'chick lit' when she's in the mood. And me? Well, beyond a prurient male interest (which doesn't really need explaining), because I write salacious stuff for a hobby, (see my profile here if you'd like to have a look...) the view from inside a woman is a legitimate resource! (I know I should rephrase that, but I don't think I shall!)
First and foremost, I liked her. In the book, she's not manipulative, really she's quite easily hurt, and is doing her best to find her way in difficult circumstances: to establish herself as a journalist in a foreign city (London) where she's been lured by a romance which immediately crumbles. She has good friends though, and certainly they get her through as much as the actitivity of the title. In the old-fashioned way, she's looking for 'Mr Right', but diverging from tradition, her approach is not to save herself, and wait for him to come along!
Her descriptions of her sexual escapades are sometimes arousing, usually amusing, and there's events as well which make you cringe along with her! Though others were disappointed, I personally thought the ending was well-written and nicely suitable - full of feeling.
There were times I wondered though: why have sex so much with guys you know aren't going to work out for you? Well, she needed copy for her column in the Independent, is one reason. Probably habitually drinking rather a lot when on a date was quite a (metaphorical) lubricator too... And of course by her own assessment, she's an especially horny female! But perhaps you all are really, were the truth made known!
this is a story of emotionally imature spoilt midle class slut who sleeps with similar men who are richer than her,she has no inhibitions when it comes to sex but one cant help but feel abt cynical to think she has overdramatised it to earn notority.its homage to the decadence of the liberal elite in central london. its as shallow as the derivative selling bankers she sleeps with or is connected yet its candidly honest at times,frank abt her emotions. its witty and realy funny at ties,such shoe fetish break up and mouthwash guy. the endless sex gets borin afterawhile and refrences to popular culture are cliched at best as are the portrayals of friends. enjoyable if you can get past the sometimes nausating monotony of her attentin seeking via sex thatspainfully being sold as soul searchig. as titlating sexmad tabloid readers, its hitthe target so we are all init.
Ya, llegué hasta más o menos un tercio y no. Qué vergüenza, entre mi crítica de este libro y la de las 50 sombras de Grey voy a quedar como una pechoña, jajaja, pero es que hay cero historia, solo sexo, sexo y sexo, y sexo de lo más irreal, diré.
Igual éste es más divertido. Si no tuviera nada mejor lo leería (cosa que no puedo decir de Grey), y al menos las mujeres acá son empoderadas y dueñas de sí misma... o más que la Anastasia Steel, lo que no es difícil de decir, pero... me aburrí. Eso es lo que me pasó. Aburrimiento. Todo fue predecible, y exagerado, y ultra maquillado y... nah.
Quizá lo lea más adelante en la vida, pero si no supo animarme ahora luego de una seguidilla inusual de libros de gente agónica... dudo que lo haga después.
My god, this young lady is not shy about giving details of her sex life away, but good on her, and why not. I like a intelligent woman who questions societys double standard where sex is concerned.
I found it intresting though, that she still seemed determined to find true love, while shagging like a high cost hooker. Maybe I'm just as influenced by the double standard.
This book was...interesting. Im not completely sure but I think the story is based on the author's real life. And boy is she an adventurous one! But hey, more power to her. Men have been doing this for years so no judgement will come from me. Well written. Funny. Bit shocking. I give it 3.5, only because I found the ending incomplete...like a follow up would be nice...just to see where this woman is and who, oops, I mean, what she is doing now.