Christian McEwenCritiques

I was provided an copy of Legal Tender: Women & The Secret Life of Money by Christian McEwen to review and what a delightful read it is. The book is a series of essays on money topics by a variety of women concerning their experiences with money. Money is a fascinating topic given it malleability. It can be a stand in for success safety, class, identify and much more. The conversations in the essays were revealing in the most interesting ways. For example, how a hoarder father’s surprise abundance surprised and enriched his daughter. My biggest complaint with the book is that it was not bigger and longer. This a tiny jewel of a gift regarding women’s relationships with money.

I'm not sure what to make of this book. It feels like I'm reading a play, a social commentary play, the kind I might have gone to seen in college as part of a sociology class. I was expecting more science, more sociology but this book is basically transcribed interviews with women about money. It's hard to read- especially since there is little to no commentary about who these women are or the context in which they are speaking. Some parts were really interesting but some were really annoying with swearing or other verbal fillers.

Based on the title I thought Legal Tender was going to be a financial advice guide for women. Instead it is short stories and vignettes about women's relationships with money. Based on my own horrific experiences with men and money, it is entirely relatable. Control your own money and your own destiny. If not somebody will try to do it for you, generally to your sorrow.

I really enjoyed this book. As a woman that grew up poor seeing my stepfather use money against my mother I could really relate to a lot of these stories. I like the diversity of the women telling these stories. There was a bit of repetition in the book but not a big deal. I would have really liked if there was a mixture of the stories as well as some really sound advice from a financial advisor or so. Overall really enjoyed it and glad I was picked to review this book.

Very short book. A quick easy read. I thought it would be a more in depth discussion about women's relationship with money. It is more short stories. It did bring to mind my f'd up relationship with money. Money should be a topic in public education. Maybe it is now. It is something I had to learn by trial and error.

At the end of this small volume, I enjoyed it more than I thought I would when starting it. The vignette's were organized by topic but still seemed a bit disjointed, like this should have been a documentary or a radio show of the various interviews the author conducted, but not a book. I'm sure it came across better as the play it was based on. There didn't seem to be a point in the book, other than women have had a wide variety of experience with money or no experience at all. Was expecting some commentary explaining each chapter, some insight from money professionals.

Not that there wasn't some wisdom to be gained. Some of the women interviewed did have great quotes or insights of their own into their money experiences. And I have passed the book on to a friend with teenage girls so it will facilitate a conversation with her children about money and banking.½

I was expecting a more academic-type book [based on the blurb info], however, this book is basically a collection of anecdotal snippets from interviews with a variety of women. There are some real nuggets of personal experiences shared in this small book, so it is worth reading.½

I have been trying to determine what the author had in mind with this book. This small book consists of the thoughts and experiences of a number of women and the relationship with money. On the plus side, there are some great quotes by authors interspersed with the vignettes. Additionally, I learned to keep any cash you might store in the house in the freezer, as it won't burn. Other than that, not much to gain from reading this.

Thank you to Bauhan Publishing for an Advance Reader's Copy of this.

I warmed up to this short work as I read it.

It is composed of short vignettes revolving around the subject of money in various women's lives, gleaned from interviews with them.

At the end of some of these are quotations on the subject of money by well-known people, e.g., "The greatest gift every girl can have is economic independence. -- Helen Mirren "

The interspersed quotations were a plus.

The most interesting story to me was one told by a woman whose husband based the amount of household work he would do on the percentage of household income he was providing. As his wife earned a larger or smaller percentage of the total household income over time, he adjusted his contribution of effort toward the division of labor within the household accordingly.

This small book is an anecdotal discussion of women and their philosophy regarding money. These women are from all walks of life, ages, and races. It's a thoughtful discussion on how money impacts women at many times in their lives.

This book is not very large, and can be read in a couple of hours, or in small bites as needed. It made me think, and also put my own money journey into perspective. This is not a financial how-to, but still is good for any woman at any point on their money journey.

Like other LibraryThing readers, based on the description, I was expecting a book that was more sociological in nature. For what it is, this book is fairly well done. The book is a small, quick read containing quotes and stories from a myriad of women from different backgrounds and socioeconomic strata. The book's genesis was a play also crafted by the author. It serves its purpose well - many of the stories are poignant and touching, and I believe in the right hands, this book could easily be passed along from friend to friend, helping them to spark conversations about the taboo subject of money. The book did seem fairly redundant at terms - quotes and anecdotes in the summary section of each chapter appear often just a page or two later in that woman's story. The dramatic differences in story lengths also made the reading experience a bit odd - I suspect this is a carryover from the play, where having a three sentence section being performed, followed by a four page section, would not seem quite so out of place. I do admire what Christian McEwen is attempting to help facilitate, and I wish her luck - I hope this book finds its way into the right hands!

If you are expecting a book full of statistics and numbers then this book if not for you but if you are looking for a book that has interesting stories of women and their relationships with money then this is the book for you.½

I agree with Marysgirl, I had expected a more academic book that picks apart the reasons that women have such a strained relationship with money. Yet I was mesmerized by this book and the women’s stories and I could not put it down. Women and money are a subject that until recently I didn’t realize was a thing that many women struggle with as I thought I was alone with being terrible with money. A bank advertisement I saw stated that most women will never handle money in their life unless their husband dies or they get divorced. I was very disturbed by this and thought this cannot be true, yet after consulting with friends realized that even women with great jobs, earning great money also abdicated their responsibility for the management of their money. Although my parents never spoke about money, I have learned that my mother was the one that controlled the checkbook. I wish I had known that when my ex-husband tried to convince me that I wasn’t capable of managing money and therefore I might not have believed him. The truth was he wanted control over both me and the money in order to keep me in an abusive marriage. When I finally left this abusive marriage, it was my story that moved other women; many complete strangers, to help me rent an apartment. Although I had saved enough cash, I had no bank statements with my name on it to prove I had assets. The treasure found in this book is the inspiration to be gained from hearing other women’s stories. I have had the same thoughts about becoming a bag lady as many of the women in this book and the threat of poverty was one used to keep me in an abusive marriage, but being a bag-lady looked preferable to a gilded cage.

I have to agree with MarysGirl review - this wasn't what I expected. A series of vignettes that I think tries to impress us, but falls real flat. That most women aren't trained to handle money is true, but it's not really true that most men are (my own case in point). It does have some examples that shows that hard work, education, and often times luck are what leads to financial security. This also leaves out that many of the richest people in America are the widows of rich men - a benefit of women living longer.
What is really annoying is the small size of the book - it doesn't quite open up fully to be read flat.

This small book is funny and informative.

This book is the outcome of an art project: a series of interviews with women which was turned into a play. As an art project, it works well. It is a small (4.5" x 6") 128-page book printed on heavy stock. It consists of short snippets from the interviews organized in 8 brief chapters. It reminded me of those themed gift books filled with aphorisms and famous quotes used for inspiration. The author suggests that readers use the questions she used in her interviews to spark discussions among their friends and relatives--a useful and needed discussion.

Unfortunately, that is not the book I expected. I thought I was getting a book based on a social science project: the study of how women thought about, reacted to, handled, and were impacted by money. I expected context, analysis, and suggested policy solutions to poverty and economic literacy. I was profoundly disappointed because women and money (in this social context) is a topic close to my heart. Because I was so disappointed, I didn't rate this book. It should be rated on what it is, not what I wanted. I hope reading this review will help people decide if this is the book for them.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in return for an honest review.

"A Personal Look at the Life of Botanical Artist Rory McEwen"
Reviewed by Tania Marien on blog ArtPlantae
http://artplantaetoday.com/tag/kew/