"All the beautiful people live in the idyllic village of Stepford, Connecticut, an affluent suburban Eden populated with successful, satisfied hubbys and their beautiful, dutiful wives. For Joanna Eberhart, a recent arrival with her husband and two children, it all seems too perfect to be true - from the sweet, accommodating Welcome Wagon lady to all those cheerful, friendly faces in the supermarket checkout lines. But just beneath the town's flawless surface, something is sordid and wrong - something abominable with roots in the local Men's Association. And it may already be too late for Joanna to save herself from being devoured by Stepford's hideous perfection."

I had seen the movie before but as books are always better I decided to give it a chance. There are a couple of things that are different especially the ending but in my opinion it's not a very good story and the characters are extremely poor. The only good thing is its length, you read it in a day!

Brought to me at a BC meeting as a surprise loan, a book from my current wishlist. Despite my growing TBR pile, it's a small book so I hope to be able to read it quickly in between longer readings. Thank you, Virgulina.

I liked it but didn't think it was anything special. It isn't usually my chosen genre and I thought it too simplistic, and the ending too abrupt, with no true resolution (though that might have been the goal). A afterword by another author speaks of many subtle things present in this novel, but I'm either too daft to see them or the reviewer was interpreting more than there was in there. I didn't dislike it, but was somehow expecting more. A nice, short, uncomplicated read. Thanks for the loan, Virgulina. I'll give you the book back when I next see you.

It's back with me.

It was offered at Title Trader and accepted by kislany. So it will be on its way to Cyprus soon! :o)

Thanks a lot, got it last week while I was abroad.

My next TBR as offered to caligula03 on a RWL relay.

Finished it within the day, it was a very fast read. It was pretty much how I remembered the movie, except for the ending. Good one, makes you think. I liked the appendix at the end of the book, I felt like in college analysing it, when I read through that part.

RELEASE NOTES:

Enjoy :)

Book is here. As soon as I finish my current purse read, I'll start on this one.

TBR: offering to lauraloo29 as a reverse relay: http://bookrelay.com/relay.php?id=774

I'm alone in this it seems but I loved the book.

Ira Levin's Stepford Wives, a story that has inspired two films and entered the lexicon is little more than a long novella. It comes in around 30,000 words and therefore wouldn't even qualify for a winning Nanowrimo entry. It's the sort of thriller where no words are wasted; the narrative is more like a transcript of someone telling a story than a well crafted narration. It can be read in about ninety minutes and even with knowing the punchlinen (or being able to figure it out) it is still a very satisifying read.

I love Levin's books. They are in my "go-to" pile when I need something both creepy and humorous at the same time. My husband says the book doesn't seem plausible (probably because he's so much like the geeks who turn against their wives). His main complaint is: "If they had the sex bots at the club, doesn't it seem surperfilious to off their wives at home?" But that's part of the book's cheesy charm. Only one family per month ever moves into Stepford, so clearly the men are being recruited. They want to replace their wives long before they come to Stepford.

The edition I read ends with a short essay by Peter Straub who analyzes the book's origins against the time when it was written when Betty Friedan's The Feminist Mystique was nine years old and probably owned by most twenty to thirty-something women and the equal rights amendment had passed congress only to be stalled in the state ratification process (though its looking like it might now be poised to pass). Was Levin writing a social satire akin to Swift's A Modest Proposal or was he writing a parody of the NOW movement? Yes. I think that the news of the day (the opening of Disney World, ERA, the closing of the space race, etc) came together to inspire a story that was fun to write and now fun to read. That it inspires discussion: all the better.

RELEASE NOTES:

Mailing to lauraloo29.

Arrived safe and sound today. I love books that have travelled! :)

A quick fun read. I prefered the book ending over the movie ending.

I'm going to send this out as a ray.

Rules: Not many. Please journal the book's arrival and departure. And please keep it moving by keeping it no longer than 4 weeks. The last person is free to release the book as they wish.

1. mysticalzoe - US (US/Intl)
2. Supertalya - US (Intl)
3. pippis - Finland (Intl)
4. Mizuchy - Romania (Europe)
5. martinburo - UK (Intl)
6. frangelle - UK
7. Dauw - Netherlands (Europe)
8. tootshelling - Germany (Intl)

Beginning its journey on June 3rd. Happy travels!

Got the book today looking forward to reading this book!

6-12-08

I really enjoyed this book, it was suspenseful, and just a fun quick read. Now I want to watch the movie with Nicole Kidman. :) I have already Pmed the next in line and will get this book out to her shortly. Thanks for sharing!

RELEASE NOTES:

Finally sending out to supertayla today, enjoy!

I just received this in the post office today. I have a bookring book ahead of it, but I should start by next week. Thanks lauraloo and mysticalzone.

I wished I had read this book before I watched the movie. I really enjoyed the book, but I prefered the movie. I only ever prefer the movie, if I watch it first. I do like how Joanna is so involved in the women's movement in the 1970's but I just didn't like the ending. It was a fast easy read and I am glad I read it. I will send it off in the next few days.

RELEASE NOTES:

It is on its way to Finland. Enjoy!

The book just arrived today! :D Can't wait for the w/e - after this hard week at work it'll be so great to have a good read... Thanks Supertalya (and all the rest of you)!

***
It was a nice weekend-read, fast and light. I was only disappointed with the ending, how it killed the strength in women..perhaps I'm a feminist, then ;) It was nice to see how similar the movie is to the book, but I have to say the book was better - once again. Loved the way it described things, created moods and how the story developed. It could have been longer, but then again, it left room for imagination.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

The book is on it's way to Mizuchy to her German location. Hope it reaches her quickly!

Extremely nice read, totaly worth it.
Sorry about taking so much time to log it, but access to Internet is rather restricted for me these days, as I am not at home.

Thanks

A fictional version of The feminime mystique. My father once wondered what his life would have been like if he'd married a particular girl who was completely different from my mother. So, first, I can see where the idea of this novel could have come from. Secondly, my father declined the invitation to move to Stepford, and it didn't sound as if he was sorry. Likewise, IL manages to make Stepford sound like a perfect horror town for both women and men, and if I could write novels I would be tempted to write one where they realise their mistake.

I was surprised that so many people disliked the end, which I thought was really cool, and, if the rest of the novel hadn't convinced one yet, made the novel into an antipatriarchal one ("would you do me a favor", "take them to the pizza place" How about: it's your turn to cook dinner?). Pippis, what did you mean by "killed the strength in women"?

Have asked for frangelle's address.

After three tries I asked Dauw for her address, sent it on 10 December.

Got it in the mail today, thanks Martinburo! I'm really looking forward to reading this.

I liked it ok on the first read, it was so thin that I read it again, and then I liked it better than the movie. Well-written, I liked how Levin sums up all the chores and little problems that take up most of the days in anyone's life, to show how life goes on in between the big discoveries.

And I liked the ending, although it was different from the movie one. It's a very Ira Levin ending, similar to the end of The Boys from Brazil, Rosemary's Baby, Sliver... Movies need a Hollywood ending, Ira Levin doesn't.

An analysis elsewhere (I think in the extras of the movie dvd) said how the book was really a bit outdated now, the women who move to Stepford are nowhere near threatening according to current standards. Joanna is really a housewife, she doesn't have a job and doesn't make any money to speak of. I guess it was also her involvement in the women's rights movement that made her scary to men.

This was in my post box waiting for me when I returned from my hols, thank you!

I've got a ring and a half in front of it, then I'll see if anyone else has signed up or if I can round up someone to take it.

8 Feb - this was indeed an easy read. entertaining but mostly fluff. I'm glad I read it though, I was always curious about it.

I'm still trying to decide how to release this one...I'm planning a trip to Australia in October, so maybe since this one has Nicole Kidman on the cover, I'll release it in a semi-themed release, down-under...

Well, I didn't take it to Australia but it did make the move back to the US so it has had a long journey - enjoy!