Profiles of Female Genius

by Gene N. Landrum

Following the pattern of his acclaimed Profiles of Genius, Gene N. Landrum discusses the elements that give these extraordinary women the edge over their competition. Among the factors Landrum addresses are psychosexual desire, the tendency to take abnormal risks, a visionary perspective, a dream-like but unshakable belief system, an intuitive operating style, and boundless energy.

To define what genetic, imprinted, and conditioned elements contribute to this creative process, Landrum writes about the significance of birth order, personality, risk-taking propensity, educational background, inner drives, mentors, and need to achieve, the willingness to sacrifice, cultural influences, and life crises, in an effort to show what makes these women tick.

Among the success stories profiled are cosmetic executives Mary Kay Ash, Liz Claiborne, Estee Lauder, and Warnaco CEO Linda Wachner; opera singer Maria Callas; actress Jane Fonda; entertainer Madonna; gift catalog founder Lillian Vernon; politicians Golda Meir and Margaret Thatcher; activists Ayn Rand and Gloria Steinem; and talk show host Oprah Winfrey.

Genres: History

437 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 1994

Reviews

[Veronika Badal · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the worst books I ever read. And probably the first one I easily "reward" with one star! Yes, it was written almost 30 years ago but even for those times it is so full of patriarchal r*nt and devaluation of women as independent human beings that even not being radical feminist I have my ass on fire. Seriously, one became a famous actress because "her husband made her a super star" another became a politician because "her husband allowed her to study in a university". And what about the women? They were just lying on the sofa? And all of them "paid the price for success by being bad mothers and wives"!Omg! Especially, was it disappointing to know that the author is a professional psychologist and a scientist. How can you be so prejudiced in writing then? The only good thing about this piece of cr*p is that I realized that it's better to read the autobiographies of these women. The style of writing is also poor, seems there was no editing at all and as a result there a lot of repetitions of the same ideas. Probably the author couldn't re-read it himself either. This books is made for torture, not pleasure or interest.

[Lindsay Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good primer, I was interested in learning more about these women. In the end, the profiles were too short, and the book was insanely repetitive. I saw the same quotes and sentences two or three times, sometimes on the following page then again in a later part of the book. Without the repetition this book could (should) have been 200 pages.

[Tré · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed. I'm a compulsive finisher and I couldn't drag myself through this book. His premise is female geniuses succeed because they are basically men and terrible mothers and women. Plus he repeats the same exact phrases over and over. Did his editor even read it?