The Female Man (Bluestreak)
by Joanna Russ

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Book Reviews of The Female Man (Bluestreak)

Book Review: 'Startling, Outrageous, and Subversive?' Well... Sort Of.
Summary: 3 Stars

Not because of the message, really. I'll give Russ credit: though there were bits of heavy-handed feminism, *almost* to the point of preaching, she never devolved to the point where I wanted to throw the book across the room; her preaching, such as it was, was intelligently written and integrated well with the plot. Insofar as there was a plot.

This is where the book falls apart for me. Maybe you will get more out of it if you're a fan of Faulkner-esque writing styles; for me, it seemed the next best thing to incomprehensible and entirely confusing, with the various elements (time travel, parallel universes, utopian societies, alternate histories, feminism, violence, vulgarity, and random sex) blended into one big chaotic stew. I managed to finish it, only to find that the ending clarified little and was very unsatisfactory. Russ might as well have dropped all the characters off of a cliff; at least then I'd have a better clue of what happened to them.

However, I am giving _Female Man_ three stars, because it isn't unreadable and does have good moments. I very much liked the character of Janet, and Jeannine was somewhat intriguing; Joanna's struggles were interesting to me, who did not live through her time period, and Jael... well, all right, she was deranged and disturbing, but who doesn't enjoy seeing the occasional murder-by-claw?

In summary: you might find it a good read if you're into Faulkner-type prose, or understand (and like) feminism better than I do, but I really wouldn't recommend picking up a copy unless you're bored or it's on sale at your local half-price store.

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