Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating, Must-Read for Just About Everyone I Know
Review: Well, I'm not surprised by the various reactions to THE BITCH IN THE HOUSE. I bought this book after seeing it discussed on The Today Show. It is a collection of honest, funny, sad, illuminating and always-interesting essays by women from a wide variety of age groups. The essays are not meant to please the reader with platitudes about how great it is to be a wife and mom, but, rather, tell the truth (as these writers see it) about all the various stops along the path from young-womanhood to (hopefully) Grand Old Sage. So naturally there are essays that might rub some people the wrong way. I suspect those essays will be different for each reader. But I also believe that anyone who reads this book will find AT LEAST two or three essays well worth the price of the book. I loved Natalie Kusz's essay about being fat and being sort of OK with that. Ellen Gilchrist's essay on balancing work and family is a revelation. And who can't relate to Chitra Divakaruni's essay about being sick of playing host to houseguests?? It's a real and funny essay. I hope that readers will give this excellent, important book a chance. My husband even read it and loved it!
Rating:
Summary: Amen, Sisters!
Review: I realize this book was written by seemingly white, middle class Yankee women -- but it sure spoke to me, a black woman way down in the deep south.
Obviously, I didn't relate to all of these women -- some I thought were a bit triffling and way too self-absorbed.
But reading some of these stories was like reading my own journal, but more eloquently put, especially "Excuse me while I explode", and "How we became strangers".
I was comforted to know that I'm not alone in my daily struggles to be a good Mom, wife, friend, daughter and co-worker. Just that fact alone helps me to exhale and be grateful for all of my plessings.
Rating: 
Summary: This is feminism?
Review: I bought this book after reading a review that suggested it would be essays about how various women cope with jobs, kids, husbands, etc. Since I'm one of those women, I thought it my might affirm my own experiences, or maybe enlighten me to new ways to approach various problems. Nope. These women seemed to be whiny, upper-middle class women who are very proud of their intellectual accomplishments, give their husbands no credit whatsoever, and are very angry that their husbands aren't mind readers. Some of them also seemed pretentious. I mean, although some of the reasons one woman gave against marriage were perfectly valid in the abstract, can anyone really say "marriage is a tool of the patriarchy" with a straight face?
Rating: 
Summary: Brilliant and insightful!
Review: The Bitch in the House is a collection of essays written by some of today's brightest female writers. The authors of these essays are of various ages, economic and marital status. It is a book about women venting their frustrations in various aspects of their lives. The stories are brilliant and insightful -- especially the ones that focus on marriage and motherhood. I especially enjoyed reading "Getting the Milk for Free," by Veronica Chambers; "Moving In. Moving Out. Moving On," by Sarah Miller; and "Killing the Puritan Within," by Kate Christensen.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting but annoying and unbalanced
Review: I found several of these essays quite interesting, but grouping them together as a "women speak out" book is misleading. I found it frustrating that the majority of women in the book were upper-middle class, educated and for some reason they all lived in New York City (not all, but many). I'm assuming (but could be wrong here) that they were mostly white. It got me thinking...why didn't the editors get an essay or two from a Hispanic working-class mom in California? Or a divorced woman in Detroit?Also, I hate to say it, but a lot of these women come across as whiny. I know, I know. I'll get kicked out of the feminist club for saying it (and trust me, I've paid my dues), but there's a lot of delusion among these women. They seem to expect the men in their lives to behave...well...like women. And that just isn't realistic. There's also a lot of justifying of what in my opinion is questionable behavior. Personally, I found the essay by the woman who had a married man's baby really frustrating. Not because she kept the baby and went on with her life, but because she seemed to have no guilt or remorse about sleeping with a married man. It's as if the man's wife doesn't exist at all to her -- she's written off in one sentence (did she ever even find out her husband fathered another woman's child?). There are some terrific pieces in here, and the writing is very strong, but overall it was a depressing disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: What about the children?
Review: Madam's whiny book ignores natural law, as well as the time-space continuum. What? One can't work a full-time, professional career, have mentally healthy children, and be a super-mom? How disappointing!
Rating:
Summary: "Never A Dull Moment!"
Review: "The Bitch In The House" by Cathi Hanauer, is a candid collection of day-to-day gripes by twenty-six women, about the routine of trying to hold their families and/or relationships together -- Sometimes cranky -- Sometimes entertaining, but never a dull moment! A Recommended Read!
Rating:
Summary: no sympathy here.
Review: This book sounded like it would be terrific -- women talking about things women tend not to discuss. However, it wasn't at all what I expected. The contributors are mainly upper-middle-class magazine writers, which means that the pieces all tend to sound the same, and have a real feeling of entitlement. Too, there are almost no older women/women of color/etc. I actually preferred THE BASTARD ON THE COUCH, because the men seemed a lot more dimensional than their wives (if as shallow).
Rating:
Summary: Interesting but annoying and unbalanced
Review: I found several of these essays quite interesting, but grouping them together as a "women speak out" book is misleading. I found it frustrating that the majority of women in the book were upper-middle class, educated and for some reason they all lived in New York City (not all, but many). I'm assuming (but could be wrong here) that they were mostly white. It got me thinking...why didn't the editors get an essay or two from a Hispanic working-class mom in California? Or a divorced woman in Detroit? Also, I hate to say it, but a lot of these women come across as whiny. I know, I know. I'll get kicked out of the feminist club for saying it (and trust me, I've paid my dues), but there's a lot of delusion among these women. They seem to expect the men in their lives to behave...well...like women. And that just isn't realistic. There's also a lot of justifying of what in my opinion is questionable behavior. Personally, I found the essay by the woman who had a married man's baby really frustrating. Not because she kept the baby and went on with her life, but because she seemed to have no guilt or remorse about sleeping with a married man. It's as if the man's wife doesn't exist at all to her -- she's written off in one sentence (did she ever even find out her husband fathered another woman's child?). There are some terrific pieces in here, and the writing is very strong, but overall it was a depressing disappointment.
Rating:
Summary: Betty needs a bit of better bitter
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this collection of first-person essays in the beginning, but as I read more I found, as several other readers seem to have found, that these women's experiences were too similar to enjoy reading over and over. There is not much diversity of culture, race or age. Still, I did enjoy the humor and the sharing, and thought the writing was very good. Ultimately I did realize that I am not as angry, not as bitter, not as disappointed as these authors, though I did enjoy the writing, and would recommend it to others.
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