What are you currently reading??

**chartreuse** · December 10th, 2007, 05:12 PM

i've just begun to reread breaking open the head: a psychadelic journey into the heart of contemporary shamanism by daniel pinchbeck. i loved it the first time i read it, but there are parts that i wanted to reread & grasp better. i really love reading of his experiences.

**ariesallover** · December 10th, 2007, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by Palermo

You said underground and it's underworld

Oh duh on me.

Thank you.

Currently reading:

Amazon.com: Lust in Translation: The Rules of Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee: Books: Pamela Druckerman

and

Amazon.com: Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty: Books: Nancy Etcoff

**SophieOrangeBerry** · December 12th, 2007, 01:59 PM

Tank Girl.

i iz a gEek

**Fluffy** · December 12th, 2007, 10:21 PM

Originally Posted by ariesallover

Currently reading:

Amazon.com: Lust in Translation: The Rules of Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee: Books: Pamela Druckerman

and

Amazon.com: Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty: Books: Nancy Etcoff

How are these two so far? I've heard of the first one before, not the second. I was thinking about picking up Lust in Translation a while back.

**ariesallover** · December 13th, 2007, 12:52 AM

I just emailed this message to a friend who asked about Lust in Translation:

I am halfway through it. The book is just wonderful. If I could email the entire chapter on the Marriage-Industrial Complex, I would. It so perfectly lays out so much of the economy and belief systems supporting marriage and points to the puritanical aspects of sex in this country. I am so farkin' happy to read it.

The author went around the world getting information, so seeing how we're [the US] so dependent on experts for what is normal and so likely to be "morally" uptight over sex is striking. She makes the parallel of how people who made a sexual mistake (e.g., adultery) have to use the script of the sinner gone awry or the addict who fell off the wagon. Startlingly accurate.

I'm especially taken by her analysis of the cultural scripts in affairs and in getting caught.

**Fluffy** · December 13th, 2007, 12:56 AM

Sounds like I'll have to check it out!

**MarieAntoinette** · December 13th, 2007, 07:13 AM

A book by Yoram Yovell, a psychotherapist, about his work. Also "Wasted" by Marya Hornbacher which is very sad, and brutally honest.

**buttmunch** · December 13th, 2007, 07:57 AM

Currently reading:

Amazon.com: Lust in Translation: The Rules of Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee: Books: Pamela Druckerman

and

Amazon.com: Survival of the Prettiest: The Science of Beauty: Books: Nancy Etcoff

Those sound really good. I may have to pick them up after I finish reading 'On Royalty'...it's very, very good as well as funny.

**ariesallover** · December 13th, 2007, 08:18 PM

Amazon.com: On Royalty: A Very Polite Inquiry Into Some Strangely Related Families: Books: Jeremy Paxman

Just got a kick out of the description. On the Amazon wishlist now, which I use as a way to manage what I request from the library. I could very easily go broke on books.

Last night, I finished the chapter in Lust in which the author interviews Edwina Currie, a former health minister who kept a diary during her four-year affair with John Major in the 80s. I think it became A Parliamentary Affair, but I'm not sure.

**ariesallover** · December 13th, 2007, 08:25 PM

Originally Posted by Fluffy

How are these two so far? I've heard of the first one before, not the second. I was thinking about picking up Lust in Translation a while back.

Fluffy, I blew past your question on Survival of the Prettiest. (I flip back and forth among books over a week while I'm finishing them; otherwise I get bored even when the book is good). When I was skimming it, I came across a quote from Paulina Porizkova that always stayed with me about beauty and geometry, which I mentioned when I was bitching in a thread about why Ivanka Trump's nose is a mathematical goof on her face.

When I first heard about this book, I expected something dense and academic; while it is somewhat academic, it reminds me of those discussions with friends where everyone forgets what time it is. I don't agree with some conclusions from research (Helen Fisher's work is priceless if you're looking to understand the function/importance of certain traits).

This book spoke to me because from the time I was a teenager and getting political in feminism and rights pertaining to gender and sexuality, I never really came across decent discussions of beauty that felt relevant to my life and that didn't accuse me of being brainwashed by the patriarchy and capitalism.