David Friend

Vanity Fair’s Women on Women is a 2019 Penguin Press publication.

Fascinating women, fascinating lives!

This is a strong collection of profiles of the women who appeared in Vanity Fair Magazine over the years. All were influential in their way, some were controversial, all are interesting and unique!

I’ve been a long-time subscriber to Vanity Fair and today it is the only magazine I still take. While I may have read some of these profiles over the years, there were many that were before my show more time- such as Emily Post. I was most surprised by the profile on Barbara Bush. Matronly grandmother? I think not!!

Others profiled included several other first ladies, including Michelle Obama, and the royals- Grace Kelly, Princess Diana and Queen Elizabeth. Actresses and musicians from Tina Turner to Meryl Streep and important feminist icons like Gloria Steinem. From Cher to Lady Gaga, the book covers roughly four decades.

The book also includes articles examining two of the most prominent feminist issues of today- The #MeToo movement and the Silicon Valley Boy’s Club.

The book also serves as a profile of the magazine itself, showing the various ways the publication as evolved and changed and the influence it has had on society from a feminine standpoint.

Overall, this a very interesting compilation of profiles and articles. It is a short book, an easy read, and is a book one can put down and pick back up easily, read between other books, or while sitting in waiting rooms, or on your lunch break. But, once I started reading it, I couldn’t put it down!!

Great history, strong women, thoughtful, eye-opening articles-all reminding me of why I continue to support this publication! Thank you, Vanity Fair! show less

Composition discusses some of the finer points of painting composition not well understood by casual artists. Most sections consist of two parts. The first is a light introduction to the section’s topic and includes exercises. The second section (usually) takes a famous painting and compares it to an initial sketch. The pair demonstrate the section’s topic and the artist’s solution to the problem.

The book is well done and very informative. My only issues is that some of the exercises show more can take several days and makes the book more of a workshop than just a read. I wasn’t prepared for that and ended up skipping or rushing the exercises. If you go in with the time and preparation, the book would probably be a good workshop. Even without taking the exercises as seriously as I should, I found the book very informative and useful. show less

Ah, this one is good. You kids out there who love big machines? This one's for you. Read it and you can drive 'em all, too---18-wheelers...concrete mixers...snowplows...all of 'em. With rhyme and a great ending that ties it all together. Give it a read, you machine-crazy kids.

The idea of a collection of articles written by women and about women was amazing to me. Unfortunately, this just didn't do it for me. I've actually never read Vanity Fair, and a lot of these articles seemed to be long just for the sake of taking up space, and lacked enough substance to keep me interested.