Rainer Maria Rilke is probably a good candidate for this experiment of telling his biography mainly from his interactions with women, starting with his mother, his partners and sponsors. While the US desperate housewives were mostly after sex, their 19th century equivalent of bored middle-aged women with rich old husbands craved attention foremost, a commodity Rilke was providing en masse, writing 300-400 letters per month. For this attention, he was cared for by his benefactors with care packets of books, flowers, clothes and spending money.

The First World War ended this world of yesterday. What would have happened if Rilke had not died relatively young at 51? Anyway, the book does not completely succeed in its experiment as, for instance, his stay with Rodin in Paris is an obvious gap as are other times when he isn't under the particular spell or at the service of a woman. ( )