I'm writing from Naxos with a brief review of "Jell-O Girls," and, like many of my odd little reviews, this one will contain "spoilers," so beware! - Should you read it? Yes. It's a triumph. I have some quibbles. The opening section is the weakest; it's where Rowbottom tries to inhabit the inner life of her (long-dead) grandmother. These passages feel false and overly generic, and it's unclear to me what is gained by trying to write about a real person in this hammy faux-novelistic way. There just isn't the right level of detail. I would have liked--better--a candid, short essay from Rowbottom: "I didn't know my grandmother, and I have bits and pieces via hearsay, and here is what I have tentatively inferred." Also, a note on socioeconomic stuff. Rowbottom is correct to report on a big complaint about Betty Friedan; with "The Feminine Mystique," Friedan was writing for a very small (white, wealthy) section of the femal...