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Salient. Newspaper of the Victoria University Students' Association. Vol 42 No. 4. March 19 1979

Books — No stuffed mushrooms — Superwoman

page 13

Books

No stuffed mushrooms

[unclear: Superwoman]

Shirley Conran was in New Zealand [unclear: re-ntly] on a promotional visit for the New [unclear: aland] edition of her book and you may [unclear: ve] read about her in the 'Listener' or seen [unclear: r] interviewed on the television. The lady [unclear: s] an excellent background for writing a [unclear: ok] of this ilk. She was the first women's [unclear: itor] of the 'Observer Colour Magazine' [unclear: d] women's editor of the Daily Mail from [unclear: ich] she launched the weekly women's [unclear: gazine], 'Femail'. She also handled the [unclear: blicity] for the Women in Media [unclear: camp-in] for legislation against sex [unclear: discriminain] in Britain and she was on the [unclear: select-n] committee for the Council of [unclear: Indus-al] Design for eight years. The book, a [unclear: stseller], has been followed by [unclear: 'Superwo-in] 2' and 'The Super woman Yearbook' New Zealand now has its own special edition.

Apart from the chapter in the book entitled, 'Sex maniacs and the single girl', the rest of the book is devoted to the sorts of things both men and women can have an interest in. Advice given on how to remove stains, what to buy and what not to buy is, I believe essentially non sexual information. So why label the book 'Superwoman' and alienate a large section of the reading public? Hardly good business I would have thought.

Since the book directs itself to all aspects of home management its content must appeal to the bachelor, solo father and house-husband. The book assumes that the responsibility of housework can be shared since the working woman is now such a feature of the New Zealand way of life.

Shirley Conran's avowed motto is: Life is too short to stuff a mushroom, a sentiment with which I wholeheartedly agree. She makes no secret of the fact that she would rather lie on a sofa than sweep beneath it, but I fear that if anybody were to slavishly follow the routines that she suggests, there would be little time to do anything else but housework. This is why Ms Conran invites the reader to deface her book. She intends it to be a working book and pages are left blank for the reader to add in her own ideas.

The section on 'how to be a laundry maid' does contain some useful hints but I am afraid I would be inclined to send an item of clothing to the cleaners rather than 'fool around' with carbon tetrachloride borax solution or salts of lemon solution (whatever that might be). Still, did you know that you can remove a ballpoint ink stain by soaking it in methylated spirits? Where-ever possible Ms Conran has used the names of New Zealand products which are easily obtained. If you've always wanted to know how to get tar off a cat or dog's paw, this is the section you should turn to (especially if you've always been afraid to ask you best friend about it).

If you'd rather put the stains in, then there is a section on dying and with a little bit of time and effort you could renovate your whole wardrobe. With clothing the price it is, who can afford to ignore it?

When it comes to home decorating, poverty stricken students will be pleased to know that the more you take out of a room, the better it looks (and if you had nothing to put there in the first place — so much the better!). The section on 'how to be a famous decorator' is followed by one on 'how to move house' which contains some helpful legal advice on how to deal with removers.

For the Gordon Blue's amongst us there is a section on food! and shopping, containing one or two basic recipes. Pets and Pests get a mention as does home maintenance. You should turn to this section if you are uninitiated in the way to repair a blown fuse. If you've always wanted to know how to keep a car happy, you're home, that's there too.

A chapter on money and a chapter on organisation (for those who sincerely want to be organised) are included. Mow to be a working wife and mother (not a word about solo-fathers) sex maniacs and the single girl (I wouldn't buy the book just for this chapter if I were you), how to profit from a crisis, what to do with the time you've saved (what time?) and sundry statistics make up the remainder of the book. The book finishes with an anecdote about a wife who didn't do her housework one day and said to her husband who returned home to the chaos, "I thought that the best way to let you see what on earth I do all day was not to do it". As a manual on home management, the book at 21 0 pages can hardly claim to be the definitive word, but it is useful as a guide and I would recommend it.

B. M. Walsh