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Critics' Opinion:
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First Published:
Apr 2001, 336 pages
Paperback:
Feb 2002, 336 pages
Female Intelligence is a hilarious look at our inability to bridge the communication gap between men and women, despite all the Mars/Venus books on the market.
A contemporary comedy of manners, Female Intelligence is a social satire about the way men and women communicate - or don't. Dr. Lynn Wyman has a wildly successful practice in sensitivity training, instructing men how to become fluent in the language of Womenspeak so they can relate better to the women in their lives. She teaches them how to ask for directions, how to participate in "active listening" and how to say, "How was your day?" With thousands of satisfied clients, numerous talk show appearances and a bestselling book, Lynn Wyman is at the top of her game. But when Lynn's personal life suddenly becomes the stuff of tabloids and her professional reputation is sullied, she must do something - anything - to resurrect her career. After spotting macho CEO Brandon Brock on the cover of Fortune magazine's "America's Toughest Bosses" issue, she bets her friends that, by tinkering with his words, by adjusting his speech patterns, by putting him through her Wyman Method, she can turn him into "America's Most Sensitive Boss" and climb back on top. Little does she know that by winning her bet she will lose her heart. Female Intelligence is a hilarious look at our inability to bridge the communication gap between men and women, despite all the Mars/Venus books on the market. It's got Heller's trademark mix of humor, romance and suspense, not to mention her dead-on take on men, women and relationships.
PROLOGUE
It is a nightly ritual all across this great land of ours, and it has nothing to do with sex. It has to do with intercourse. Verbal intercourse.
What happens is that millions of husbands and wives sit down at the table to eat dinner together. They begin the meal -- take a bite of this, a sip of that -- and, before you can say, "Pass the salt," there's trouble: The wives attempt to make conversation with the husbands and the husbands act as if they've been cornered; the wives attempt to make more conversation with the husbands and the husbands get that I-don't-understand-what-she-wants-from-me look; the wives become angry and frustrated with the husbands and the husbands either assume a ridiculously defensive posture or retreat into their imaginary cave. It should be noted that this nightly ritual is occurring in spite of our awareness of the problem and in spite of generational shifts in attitudes. It is occurring because, like cotton, it is "the fabric of ...
Chris Gilson, author of Crazy for Cornelia
Jane Heller is the most fun you can have with a dust jacket on. Once you read her hilarious, pacy, and wickedly-poignant Female Intelligence, you'll whisk Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus off your shelf and replace it with this delicious sendup of the fault line between men and women. The unexpected twists and turns soar through the meaning of love, friendship, betrayal, and what makes us worth saving. Female Intelligence will leave you convinced that both sexes would make up a lot sooner if they stopped jumping through hoops and took a fresh look at the wisdom of vive la difference.
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