Conville & Walsh
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The Woman’s Book
Everything But the Kitchen Sink
- Author: Francesca Beauman
- Category: Non-fiction
- Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
- Pub date: 1 August 2007
- Length: 192 pages
About The Woman’s Book
THE WOMAN’S BOOK is a definitive new handbook of women’s customs, habits and pursuits. A witty distillation of current wisdom relating to twenty-first century life, its key is the visually attractive manner in which the information is presented. Crammed with facts, figures, diagrams, lists, tables, flow charts, pie charts, Venn diagrams, multiple choice questionnaires, charts, columns of pros versus cons, point systems, quotes, barometers of ‘going up/going down’ and so on, the approach is very much a systematic one.
Complementing this is the book’s often left-field perspective. The words ‘maybe’, ‘perhaps’ or ‘probably’ do not feature; rather, this is about taking a view on the many and varied cultural reference points that constitute our everyday existence – each of which is treated with exactly the same degree of seriousness.
By summarizing only the most useful tips and information from books like How to Be a Domestic Goddess, He’s Just Not That Into You, The Shops, Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps, Smart Women Get Rich, A Short History of Nearly Everything and the Guinness Book of Records, magazines like Glamour, Vanity Fair, Good Housekeeping and The Economist, and websites like dailycandy.com and salon.com, THE WOMAN’S BOOK highlights the wisdom of generations of historians, scientists, cooks and couturiers to provide a fascinating insight into the psychology of a woman’s everyday life.
About the Author
Francesca Beauman is a historian and journalist. Born in London, Francesca was educated at Cheltenham Ladies College and Cambridge University. She spent a decade as a television presenter, and is now the author of four books: a history of the pineapple entitled The Pineapple: king of fruits, The Woman’s Book, How to Crack an Egg with One Hand: a pocketbook for the new mother, and Shapely Ankle Preferr’d: a history of the Lonely Hearts ad, 1695-2010. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, film director James Bobin, and her two young children.