Virginity or Death!: And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time
by Katha Pollitt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Katha PollittEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-06-13
ISBN: 081297638X
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Book Reviews of Virginity or Death!: And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time
Book Review: What was I thinking?
Summary: 2 Stars
I'm rather conservative but something about the reviews for this book made me want to buy it. Even though I'm opinionated, I still like to sample opposing points of view just for some variety.
Well, I guess I should have bought a real book rather than just a collection of newspaper columns collected in book form. There's something totally unsatisfying and very tedious about reading through the last several years of now-old news and hearing a dyed-in-the-wool political partisan write to a certain audience about now all-too-well known events.
It's the same old predictable "progressive" stuff. Don't fly the flag, even after 9/11, because the American Flag stands for "jingoism" (whatever that is). Our flag doesn't stand for our ideals, but rather our worst sins, and until we are a perfect country that always does perfect, we can't have a flag. Bla bla bla. The Taliban were bad, and Bush defeated them, but we are still bad bacause back during the cold war we helped them against the Soviets. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn't it?
But what's really tedious about this book is not the opinions expressed, it's that it really isn't a book at all, but just a collection of unreferenced and reasonably well written rants from a magazine. I don't think I'll every buy another "book" like this again, whether by a liberal or a conservative.
Summary of Virginity or Death!: And Other Social and Political Issues of Our Time
"As this book, which is greater than the sum of its brilliant parts makes clear, Katha Pollitt, who is famously a feminist, is also a humorist, a moralist and a most hilarious, wise, and incisive observer."-Victor Navasky, author of A Matter of Opinion
Through presidential administrations Democratic and Republican, Katha Pollitt has observed and exposed the inconsistencies and illogic of those who stand in the way of progress solely to hold on to their power. In defense of human rights and equality, she assails the corrupt and educates the misguided with compassion, Swiftian wit, and complete literary authority.
In this compelling collection, Pollitt skewers one hypocrite after another. She suggests, for example, that creationists be permitted to oppose the teaching of evolution only so long as they agree to forgo the benefits of the theory-such as flu vaccines. She gently wonders if those who denounced the decision to allow Terri Schiavo to die in peace would themselves be satisfied to be video-diagnosed by Senator Bill Frist. And in the title essay about fundamentalists' antagonism toward sex education and STD prevention, she asks, "What is it with these right-wing Christians? Faced with a choice between sex and death, they choose death every time."
Pollitt is one of the most eloquent and persuasive voices in American political conversation of this or any other era, and Virginity or Death! Is a marvelous demonstration of her keen insight, mordant humor, and sense of justice.
"Katha Pollitt has long and rightly been hailed for her brilliance, wit, and great insight into politics, social issues, and women's rights. As with all of her work, I am enormously grateful for Virginity or Death!, and also deeply jealous."
-Anne Lamott, author of Traveling Mercies
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