Simply Irresistible: Unleash Your Inner Siren and ... (ISBN 076242673X)

Some history not found in the history books or feminism of a different form:
The siren-style of woman is one that is admired, hated, gossiped about, loved deeply from both near and far and often envied, sometimes all at once by the same person. At no times are they ever ignored. This book describes some of the most famous women of this type down through history. Other than being a siren, the characteristics of these women cover a wide swath of different types. There are queens and empresses, such as Elizabeth I of England, Cleopatra of Egypt and Catherine the Great of Russia. Some are actresses such as Mae West, Greta Garbo, Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, Carole Lombard and Susan Sarandon. Others pursued wealth and power at all costs, for example Evita Peron, Camilla Parker-Bowles, Pamela Harriman and Lady Randolph Churchill all pursued and captured men at high levels of political power. Finally, some were prostitutes and frauds, such as Mata Hari and Ninon de Lenclos, although the proper term for the higher-class sex worker was courtesan. They were women who provided quality companionship and conversation as well as sex. Whatever category you would put them in, they were all women who altered and went contrary to the society they found themselves in. Looked at another way, most could be described as feminists, because they insisted that women could do what they want, social norms notwithstanding. In many cases, these women had many lovers and they made no secret of it, wearing it as a badge of honor and pride. Pamela Harriman summed it up when she said, "I would rather have bad things written about me than be forgotten." This is not a book for someone who harbors a chauvinistic attitude towards the role of women, independent of their gender. However, if you are interested in some of the most dynamic, energetic and interesting women in history, then this book will fascinate you. It certainly generated that reaction in me.

Worth the Read:
A delectable mix of history and how-to, Simply Irresistible is a great book. Cleverly written, with superb graphic design, Ellen White delivers a book that any woman (single or not) should read! White profiles some of the great "sirens" throughout history and categorizes them into "types" including: the Goddess, the Companion, the Sex Kitten, the Competitor, and the Mother. She describes the characteristics of these types of Sirens and uses actual women to show how their techniques of seduction worked. Very interesting read, makes history fun! Although you can and should take some these techniques to heart, I wouldn't categorize this book as solely a "how-to" manual. White provides the ideas and helps you to identify your inner siren, and then leaves the details up to you. Some Featured Sirens: Evita Peron, Lady Randolph Churchill, Marilyn Monroe, Beryl Markham, Coco Chanel, Greta Garbo, Cleopatra, Josephine Baker, Jackie O, Mata Hari, Catherine the Great, Angelina Jolie, and Mae West, among others. Also features a short chapter on Sirens who made mistakes, such as Anne Boleyn. Don't miss this book!

Superb!!:
I wish I would've had this as a guide many years ago, although, it's still not too late. It's truly amazing!!!

A fairly good starter on the art of seduction for women:
If you're looking for a 'starter' guide into the art of seduction, this is it. There are many books and articles on seducing men, but many of them are just not satisfactory. It's true that men are visual creatures, but pure seduction is more than getting him into bed - it is also about making him fall in love. And to do the latter, seducing him visually is just not enough. This book gives some insight on how to make your victim fall in love. The interesting thing about Simply Irresistible is that it analyzes several types of sirens and invites the female reader to analyze herself. I liked the hands-on approach that the book provided. (I tried to analzye my own type, and I realized it was a mish-mash of all the types.) Another thing that I really liked about the book was its choice of sirens. While I did not agree with a few of White's choices (was Mata Hari really a siren?), I thought she selected a few sirens who are very potent but who have been overlooked too often - Lady Randolph Churchill, The Duchess of Windsor, and Camilla Parker-Bowles, to name a few. Perhaps the hallmark of their art of seduction is subtlety. I wished that the book developed the themes further. Simply Irresistible had lots of potential, but didn't quite explore it fully.

An Interesting Read:
This book shows how your personality traits fit into a specific Siren type, and gives examples of famous women for each type. It discusses many famous Sirens throughout history and analyzes what it was about that woman that drew people to her. There are the obvious Sirens such Marilyn Monroe and Greta Garbo, but there are also many that are not as well-known, and it was interesting to read their stories and see how they affected people around them.