Download Ebook Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan
This is also among the factors by obtaining the soft data of this Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan by online. You may not require even more times to spend to check out the publication store as well as look for them. Often, you likewise do not find guide Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan that you are looking for. It will certainly lose the moment. However below, when you see this page, it will be so easy to obtain as well as download the e-book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan It will certainly not take sometimes as we state previously. You could do it while doing another thing in the house or even in your workplace. So simple! So, are you question? Just practice just what we supply right here as well as review Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan exactly what you enjoy to review!
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan
Download Ebook Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan. Learning how to have reading behavior resembles learning how to attempt for consuming something that you actually do not really want. It will require more times to aid. In addition, it will certainly also little force to serve the food to your mouth and ingest it. Well, as checking out a publication Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan, often, if you must review something for your new works, you will certainly feel so woozy of it. Even it is a book like Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan; it will make you really feel so bad.
When obtaining this book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan as referral to check out, you can acquire not just inspiration however additionally brand-new knowledge and lessons. It has greater than typical advantages to take. What kind of book that you review it will work for you? So, why should get this publication entitled Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan in this post? As in link download, you can get the publication Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan by on the internet.
When getting guide Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan by on the internet, you could read them any place you are. Yeah, even you are in the train, bus, waiting checklist, or various other areas, on the internet publication Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan can be your great buddy. Each time is a great time to review. It will certainly enhance your understanding, enjoyable, enjoyable, lesson, and experience without investing more cash. This is why on the internet e-book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan ends up being most wanted.
Be the first that are reviewing this Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan Based on some reasons, reading this e-book will provide even more perks. Even you should review it step by action, web page by page, you could finish it whenever as well as anywhere you have time. Once again, this on-line e-book Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide To Romance Novels, By Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan will certainly give you simple of reading time and task. It likewise provides the encounter that is budget-friendly to reach as well as get significantly for much better life.
The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name...
We do it in the dark. Under the sheets. With a penlight. We wear sunglasses and a baseball hat at the bookstore. We have a "special place" where we store them. Let's face it: Not many folks are willing to publicly admit they love romance novels. Meanwhile, romance continues to be the bestselling fiction genre. Ever. So what's with all the shame?
Sarah Wendell and Candy Tan—the creators of the wildly popular blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books—have no shame! They look at the good, the bad, and the ugly in the world of romance novels and tackle the hard issues and questions:
-The heroine's irresistible Magic Hoo Hoo and the hero's untamable Wang of Mighty Lovin'
-Sexual trends. Simultaneous orgasms. Hymens. And is anal really the new oral?
-Romance novel cover requirements: man titty, camel toe, flowers, long hair, animals, and the O-face
-Are romance novels really candy-coated porn or vehicles by which we understand our sexual and gender politics?
With insider advice for writing romances, fun games to discover your inner Viking warrior, and interviews with famous romance authors, Beyond Heaving Bosoms shows that while some romance novels are silly—maybe even tawdry—they can also be intelligent, savvy, feminist, and fabulous, just like their readers!
- Sales Rank: #307859 in Books
- Brand: Brand: Touchstone
- Published on: 2009-04-14
- Released on: 2009-04-14
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.44" h x .90" w x 5.50" l, .60 pounds
- Binding: Paperback
- 304 pages
- Used Book in Good Condition
Review
"Funny, irreverent, and insightful, this guide zeros in on the joys and woes of the romance genre... delivering both in delightful, readable style." -- Nora Roberts, New York Times bestselling author
"A high-octane, hilarious and revelatory look at the romance genre...It's too much fun to be missed!" -- Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author
"Sarah and Candy point out all that's ridiculous and annoying in the genre, while showcasing all that's good and valuable, with wit, style, intelligence, and snark." -- Jennifer Crusie, New York Times bestselling author of Welcome to Temptation and Crazy for You
Review
"Funny, irreverent, and insightful, this guide zeros in on the joys and woes of the romance genre... delivering both in delightful, readable style." -- Nora Roberts, New York Times bestselling author
"A high-octane, hilarious and revelatory look at the romance genre...It's too much fun to be missed!" -- Lisa Kleypas, New York Times bestselling author
"Sarah and Candy point out all that's ridiculous and annoying in the genre, while showcasing all that's good and valuable, with wit, style, intelligence, and snark." -- Jennifer Crusie, New York Times bestselling author of Welcome to Temptation and Crazy for You
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Chapter Cleavage
An Introduction to Romance and to the Smart Bitches
Welcome!
No, no, don't hide your romance novel. You don't have to wrap it in a quilted cover or slide it in between the pages of The New Yorker. We know you're smart. We also know you like romance novels.
Your romance novels are welcome here. Celebrated. Loved. Cuddled, even, if they're particularly good. Adorned with man titty and paraded up and down the street to acclaim, applause, and perhaps stray dollar bills. We'll occasionally poke -- with savage abandon, even -- at the more ludicrous aspects of the genre, but we kvetch because we love. Our point is:
Welcome.
This is Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels. We're not egomaniacal enough to think it's the Definitive Guide to Romance Novels, but guides written for readers by readers are few and far between. There are plenty of articles and books that dismiss the genre, and some excellent academic examinations that subject the genre to a long-overdue analysis. Us? We're here to throw a party for the genre -- to celebrate its soaring successes as well as its appalling excesses, and to raise a beverage to the continued health and happiness of our favorite reading material. And yes, we're here to throw a drunken yet solidly comforting arm around your shoulders and say, "Oh, yes! We read them! We love them! Even the awful ones, them, too. And people who think we're dumb for reading them? Screw 'em! What the hell do they know? "
There are some things only a reader of romance can understand and appreciate. The bemulleted cover models. The alpha hero whom you love to read about but who'd be fodder for COPS episodes in real life. The heroines who are either so feisty they make your teeth hurt, or the embodiment of every virtue known to man, dog, and Chthonic deities. Deep tongue kissing first thing in the morning after a long night of bonkety-bonk, because romance protagonists do not ever have morning breath.
Then there are the fun parts of romance novels: the escape into a story that's happy and satisfying, but won't insult your intelligence. The spicy passages that feature...spicy passages. The characters you befriend and revisit when you're feeling down or in need of comfort reading. The stories that unabashedly depict love, relationships, and happiness.
There's nothing quite like a beautifully executed romance novel or the afterglow upon finishing an especially good one, and that's why we Smart Bitches are celebrating them.
If you were to gather romance readers into one room, that room would circle the earth seventeen times and do the hokey-pokey while it turned itself around. Most likely we'd all get seasick. But while we fought for the Dramamine, no doubt we'd notice that romance readers represent an astonishing cross section of political, social, religious, and economic groups. According to the oft-quoted statistic from Romance Writers of America (RWA), one out of every five people reads romance. This is, in mathematically correct notation, "a shitfuckton of people." A quick examination of the highlights of those statistics yields numbers with decimal points that are necessary only because that many zeroes become tiresome to type out. In 2006, romance accounted for $1.37 billion in sales, and 64.6 million Americans read at least one romance in 2005. No matter what you do to those numbers, whether you divide them or watch them do a tango, those numbers are freaking huge.
And yet, despite the millions of dollars and those millions of readers and that (quivering alabaster) mound of books sold in every language known to print, romance is easily the most well-hidden literary habit in America. Millions of dollars are spent on romance novels, yet few will admit to reading them. We Smart Bitches, we know you read romance.
In fact, we'll come right out and say five out of five readers have read romance -- they just didn't know it. Think about it: just about every work of fiction has a romantic element in it. The love, sex, or attraction part might not be the primary focus, but they're almost always there. What would the Iliad be without Paris and Helen, or the Odyssey without Odysseus and Penelope? What would a story of danger and intrigue be without sexual attraction and tension? What would horror be without some damn fool woman running around so that some muscled hero could rescue her scantily clad ass? Love stories, from epic poems to schlocky bestsellers, form the backbone of our storytelling tradition.
So tie another ribbon around the What-the-Fuck tree: a staggering number of people read romance, few admit to it, and romantic elements are ubiquitous, but when that romance stands on its own two glass-slippered feet as the focus and driving element of the plot, then it's craaaap. No one who is anyone likes romance novels.
But somehow, everyone has a very firm idea of what the average romance reader is like. We bet you already know her. She's rather dim and kind of tubby -- undereducated and undersexed -- and she displays a distressing affinity for mom jeans and sweaters covered in puffy paint and appliquéd kittens. So even though repeated surveys conducted by independent research reveal that an astonishingly diverse and often affluent population reads romance novels, in popular depictions, we're all the same.
"In all honesty, the dichotomy inherent in the conflicting nobility and morality of the duke is quite a fascinating subject to analyze."
Here she is: meet Mavis. She's not only a romance reader, she's the romance reader, the image everyone pictures when they discuss the romance novels those bored housewives love so much. Funny thing about Mavis, and you, and us, and everyone else who read romance: our love of romance novels is probably all that we have in common, but because of this shared interest, we're transformed from women of all walks of life to storm troopers: not very bright, evidence of the triumph of the Evil Empires of Bad Taste and Degraded Literature, and impossible to tell apart from one another.
Maybe you're already familiar with the genre. Maybe your budget is earmarked for romance novels, then rent, then food. Maybe your bookcases look like ours, and there are paperback romance novels wedged two deep on each shelf. Or maybe you're curious why romance is so popular, and why the otherwise-intelligent women in your life enjoy this cultural blight. Or perhaps you know us from our site, and you're just wondering how many times we're going to say expletives like "fuck" or "shit" or "holy cuntmonkeys" in this book.
Maybe you're just curious why women proclaiming themselves to be "Smart Bitches" would spend time, effort, and adoration on a genre that everyone else dismisses as tawdry, smutty, and lame. Sit down. We will explain -- or at the very least provide a profanity-filled précis.
So Who Are You, and Where Did You Come From?
When people ask us why we started Smart Bitches, we usually have a hot pink list of reasons we trot out. The Internet was riddled with romance Web sites whose grading curve wasn't curvy enough for our tastes, and we figured we could help change that. Or: we wanted the freedom to provide honest, noholds-barred commentary on all aspects of romance novels. Or: we wanted a public venue in which we could use the words "cuntmonkey" and "dichotomy" in the same discussion as "man titty" and "Fabio," and make all the fart jokes we possibly could whenever we came across titles like Savage Thunder or Brave the Wild Wind.
But ultimately, it boiled down to this fact: the two of us, we're neither fish nor fowl nor meat -- which would make us either TVP or tofu, but we digress. See, there tend to be two big camps in the discourse surrounding romance novels:
Camp Number One consists of those Who Just Don't Get It. They've either never read a romance novel before, or they picked one up, discovered it was awful, experienced permanent retinal scarring from the terrible cover, and wrote the entire genre off -- and the readers, too. The people in this camp are fond of accusing romance readers of being intellectually lazy, or hopelessly addicted to emotional porn. When the people in this camp find out they have friends -- friends whose tastes they trust, even -- who read and enjoy romance novels, their reaction is usually incredulousness, followed up by some variant of this backhanded compliment: "But you're so smart!" they cry out. "How can you possibly read that tripe? "
Unfortunately, it often feels as if Those Who Just Don't Get It outnumber the ones who do. Those Who Just Don't Get It are the readers and critics who object strenuously to the idea of romance novels being reviewed in the New York Times Book Review. They're the ones who, feeling defensive after having their media habits thoroughly scrutinized, say, "Well, at least I don't read romance novels." They're the people who don't know nearly as much as they think they do; they often end up making ludicrous flubs, such as mistaking Harlequin romances for erotica. But then, it's difficult to properly criticize a genre when one hasn't read extensively in it, and let's face it: romance novels, with their titty-licious covers, overwrought cover copy, and genre constraints are an easier piñata to smack around than most. But because most of the people in this camp don't know the genre, most of them don't suspect that the best is on par with the best books in any genre, and that the worst books are even more vile than they could've imagined.
Camp Number Two is the cheerleader camp. Almost everything is at least four stars, or throbbing hearts, or fluffy kittens, or calling birds (partridge in a pear tree not included). Their attitude seems to boil down to: "Romance is awesome, and if you don't have a nice word to say then you should just shut up. Bless your heart." One of the signature arguments of this camp involves a contradictio...
Most helpful customer reviews
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful.
As fun as the website
By J in Phila
Really enjoyed this, even though published a few years ago. Recommend it for any Romance enthusiast. Wish they did an update, but maybe they have and I just missed it!
73 of 85 people found the following review helpful.
Good in parts (as the actress said to the bishop)
By rooreads
As a regular reader of the Smart Bitches, Trashy Books blog, I was happy to buy this book. Having read it, I found myself wishing it had been better. A blog of its nature - and quite reasonably - is a bitsy beast and can, like the curate's egg, be good in parts, because tomorrow is another entry: a book needs greater cohesion, particularly if the publisher describes it as a 'guide', with all that implies.
In some ways, I'm not sure if the book quite knows what it's trying to do: raise a snicker with uninhibited language, amusing observations and romance-related games? analyse a best-selling but often disregarded genre with academic language and reference to research/surveys/articles? share the passion of the authors as readers of this hugely-popular genre? All of the above, even if the combination doesn't quite hold together?
The chapters cover some main features of the romance genre - heroes, heroines, plot devices and so forth; and yet I felt that there were assumptions about the readership of the book which might limit its audience. Perhaps this is something carried over from the blog, which has its own distinct community, which will no doubt embrace this book as a continuation of something they already know and love. Sarah and Candy have engaging and distinctive voices and opinions, and the comments on their blog entries are entertaining and informative discussions too.
I wondered about the assumption that 'Old Skool' romance meant old like, the 1970s. The genre has existed for far longer - Mills and Boon/Harlequin's publishing history goes back further, even if you step away from the 'romance is as old as stories' argument. Perhaps the focus on the more recent years of the genre accounts for odd factual errors/sweeping assumptions. I am a dabbler-reader in the genre, rather than any sort of expert, but found myself disagreeing with some statements/assumptions, even with my limited knowledge. I'm sure I didn't get all the in-jokes in the book, either; entertaining for the cognescenti, but excluding others from sharing the hilarity.
I wondered about the assumption that readers would know the whole genre - a guide to its main strands would seem a likely inclusion to a, well, guide to the romance genre, from category romances to Regencies to paranormal to the rest, with reading recommendations for each. While any such lists would, by their nature, be subjective, the point is of course that if you respect the authors, you're happy to be informed by their recommendations/opinions on the books they review/suggest.
There are recommendations within the text, but one of my frustrations, having read the book, was my difficulty in finding sections again to which I wished to refer - what was that recommended author/title? Where was that list of authors' favourites? There is a list of works cited at the end of the book, but this is a list of works about romance novels; there is no list or index covering romance titles or romance authors mentioned in the text. This is something the publishers should have seen as being necessary/important. I have found myself skidding through the text, looking for this mention or that, a search not facilitated by the structure the publisher/editors have chosen for the book.
There are some important issues covered, such as plagiarism, and race (where to shelve the African-American romances, the for and against of various options). The book also includes some games/choose-your-own romance sections which I found not especially engaging - I flicked through them; devoting about a third of the book to these seemed indulgent for a 'guide'.
There are some hilarious issues covered, such as snarkable cover cliches - the authors are undoubtedly witty and observant, and the covers are ripe for their style of ribald analysis. I don't think the authors have been well-served by the illustrations, which I found banal and not especially well-done.
Sarah and Candy have, through their blog, done much to raise the profile of the romance genre, raise awareness of issues, authors, books; and have provided a lively and amusing focus for a diverse and intelligent community of readers.
I wish I had enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy the blog.
17 of 21 people found the following review helpful.
a snark-tastic journey
By she reads
Before purchasing this book I can not suggest strongly enough that you go visit [...] and get a feel for the authors. I've been a big fan of the bitches since discovering them earlier this year, and I've been anxiously awaiting the release of this book for several weeks now. They have good snippets of material + bonus 'outtakes' on their site that you can look at.
Like another reader mentioned, this book seemed to have a confused identity. Chapters that break downs of heros, heroines, common plots, and more were mixed in with snarky, poke fun at the romance lists and jokes. Is this a book for or against romance, remind me?
I didn't find it a useful guide to romance novels, so much as a snark-tastic journey through the eyes of Sarah and Candy. Was it fun and fabulous? Sure! The 'make your own hero' stories at the end had me hooting, I loved the breakdown of the heroine, the author interviews were insightful, and goodness abounded.
I had expected a more comprehensive guide to great romances of all sub-genres. Instead there's a heavy lean towards historical romances (sigh, groan) and never did I find a good resource guide or listing of great novels to read or anything. I'd hoped that some 'all time greats' would be looked at, talked about, and listed to show off the greatness of this, my favorite genre. I wanted to know more about specific examples of awesomeness that I should be aware of and read to be more educated as a fan... I didn't feel satisfied. Paranormal, suspense, contemporary, and other genres within romance were mentioned but not given equal billing compared to the heavy handed historical mentions.
As I closed the last page, it just wasn't all I'd hoped for and now I've shared why. Will I keep visiting the bitches daily and loving them? You bet.
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan PDF
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan EPub
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan Doc
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan iBooks
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan rtf
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan Mobipocket
Beyond Heaving Bosoms: The Smart Bitches' Guide to Romance Novels, by Sarah Wendell, Candy Tan Kindle
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar