Skirts Books

It's not the content of the book that I don't like -- it's the the physical product. I'm older than than this book and I hope I look better than it does.

A Perry Mason Omnibus

"Perry Mason" is the trial lawyer who always wins for his clients, often in the Preliminary Hearings. Erle Stanley Gardner used his own experiences as a trial lawyer plus his legal knowledge to create fast-paced stories in this series. The dialogue carries the interest of the reader. There is a minimum of characterization or description of surroundings. Gardner did not put dates in his novels, but the backgrounds and dollar figures tell about the times prior to 1971. His stories often involved some new technical development or some obscure law. Some of the legal issues (like habeas corpus) became obsolete due to Supreme Court rulings since the 1950s. Municipal corruption or shady business dealings occur in these stories as a warning for readers.

* The Case of the Singing Skirt. This tells about the beauty contest racket where girls win a free trip to Hollywood, then are left stranded. Can gambling losses be recovered under the community property laws? Perry's client is charged with murder after being fired from a gambling casino for not spying on card players. Perry frees his client.
* The Case of the Blonde Bonanza. Perry Mason notices a young woman eating a huge lunch. She will get a job as a model if she puts on weight! Is there a variation on an old racket in this deal? When the man who made this contract is found murdered Perry's client is a suspect. Perry saves his client.
* The Case of the Horrified Heirs. Lauretta Trent is an elderly wealthy woman whose heirs are waiting on her. When her car has an accident and goes over a cliff into the ocean Perry's client is arrested. Perry's hunch of a frame-up leads to a solution. The ending is unusually happy.

I hadn't read a Perry Mason novel for several decades; then I picked up "The Case of the Blonde Bonanza." Obviously my tastes in fiction have changed since I first discovered Erle Stanley Gardner. For that I am thankful.

Perry Mason comes across as the pompous boor and know-it-all, and Della Street as an adoring sycophant. Mason speculates, on the flimsiest evidence, and is always right on the money, with Della on the sidelines, praising his genius. By the way, what is the relationship between those two? As her employer, he visits her at a beach house, often takes her to dinner and seems to be her only companion in life. Do they have separate sleeping facilities? Just curious.

The dialogue is wooden. The plot is predictable in the extreme. The atmosphere is southern California, ca. 1960. The characters are superficial, e.g., curvaceous blond, ham-fisted detective, snotty prosecutor, etc. The writing is full of repetition, as if we the readers wouldn't get it the first time.

There are excellent legal crime novels in print, but this one surely is not among them. Try John Grisham's books, for example.

It's a cute book, I know many women will enjoy it. I just had to see for myself, being a man, what the fuss was over this little book. Perfect as a gift for the women in your life who understand why men create so many problems. LOL

Admission: I didn't read the book but took offense at the title. Well, I did read various descriptions of the book that list some of these "problems," and, well, it's just an insipid, stupid list, not even that cleverly chosen or ironic. The problem is that men are mostly the creators--although clever women are indeed catching up--and so naturally we've created many dumb things and problems, but what about the great things we've created? For example, life-saving medical techniques that help everybody including pregnant women to have more successful, less painful births. A great guy to read is Warren Farrell--look him up on amazon--who turns the table on this kind of one-sided, myopic feminist criticism of men. Another great author is Christina Hoff Sommers who says--if I remember correctly--that while feminists are putting down mens' creations, she would be a little afraid to fly in a jet created by feminists who reject men's more technical mindsets. Well, why did I bother to write a review of a book nobody reads (today the amazon ranking is 800,000 or so, which means it isn't selling). I guess the marketplace has passed adequate judgment upon this book with its obnoxious title.

For being a self-proclaimed "Psychology Expert", Cooper Lawrence does not even hold a Doctorate in her "field of study".

That alone should give off warning bells to the lack of credibility of this book.

This is yet another book cashing in on a TV talking head's 15 minutes of fame. If you're looking for insight into your own life or help with your real problems, you're always going to get what you pay for, and $12.00 (this book's current price at the time of writing this review) won't get you much that you couldn't get by pouring your heart out to your local hairdresser.

There is only one word to describe this book, BORING. I got this for my mother since book was only 10 cents and after she read the first 20 pages or so went to the trash. I got curious about it and started reading and i can't believe how Lawrence could write this stuff. Do yourself a favor and buy something else, even if price of this book is about 5 cents, because is not worth it.

While I usually abhor the idea of banning any books, in this case I might make an exception. This book is so painfully bad that it would be a public service to burn and/or ban it. I'll never be able to get back the hour+ I spent reading it but if this review keeps one person out there from such harm, it's worth it.

This book left me wondering if self help books are written to help the author or the reader. The book consists of the author whining about how having a career is soooo much more difficult for women, how men are the root of all evil, and how things she has no facts or research about are evil and full of terrible things that will warp you and your childrens' minds. A recurring problem was the lack of evidence, lack of research, and rambling about life as if she just wanted to make herself feel better. This book is a waste of precious paper, and deserves less than a 1 star rating.