On Blondes (Paperback)

by Joanna Pitman (Author)

1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

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Product details

Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; Reprint edition (Mar 2004)
Language English
ISBN-10: 1582344027
ISBN-13: 978-1582344027
Product Dimensions: 19.5 x 12.9 x 2 cm

Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 636,919 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
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#77 in Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Beauty & Fashion > Hair

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Review

'Riveting provocative ON BLONDES is ultimately a study of power - and powerlessness - between the sexes travelling undercover, this brunette produced a book which, like its subject, is wonderfully enlightening' Telegraph 'Fascinating Pitman skillfully navigates the complicated history of our addiction to fair hair, skipping through the centuries with an elegant touch' Dea Birkett, Independent --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Ann Widdecombe, Evening Standard

‘I defy anyone not to enjoy it ... It is well written, has pace and intrigues the reader ... hugely entertaining’ --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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	74% buy the item featured on this page: On Blondes 1.0 out of 5 stars (1)
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13 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Dumb Blonde, 6 May 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: On Blondes (Hardcover)

This is a very poor book - a dumb blonde indeed.
At first glance the book is a sexy, quasi-academic study of the significance and meaning of blonde hair throughout the ages. In reality, it's a half-baked mess of bold statements with little or no evidence to support them. And these statements don't even hold together to form a coherent argument of any sort. The book is just a glorified list of people who might have had blonde hair. I don't even believe that some of them did. A prime example for you - Rumour has it that Cleopatra was a blonde. Really? No rumour that I have ever heard of, and no hints as to which eminent Egyptologists might have fed Ms Pitman this information.
The factual evidence throughout is sketchy, and the references at the back are very sloppy indeed. Does Ms Pitman even realise for instance that Ovid never wrote a book called The Erotic Poems, from which she quotes? If you are going to use a translation, at least find out what the original text is called and reference it properly . The poem she refers to is The Amores, Book I, poem 14, which doesn't explictly refer to dying the hair blonde, as the author confidently asserts, but scolds Corinna for treating and messing around with her hair. Someone who studied at Cambridge and writes for The Times should know the importance of understanding and presenting sources correctly.
Blonde-ness and faux blonde-ness is essentially a trivial subject, and Ms Pitman has done nothing to dignify it, make her study remotely credible or present the topic in an academic light.
So, unless you are burning to read a flowery description of the locks of the Virgin Mary, Princess Di, Diana Dorrs et al (and even Ms Pitman's near own canonisation on account of her glowing mop) I won't bother with this book. You really won't learn anything, and if the book does spark any interest, you won't be able to follow up the ideas anyway. Just spend the �12.99 on peroxide and do your own research.

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