Chick For A Day

By Michele Orecklin

Men, it seems, have one thing on their mind, even when they're being women. At least that's the conclusion that can be drawn from this collection of essays, short stories and poems in which male writers imagine life as a woman for 24 hours. With rare exceptions, the 38 contributors belabor the fantasy of dressing up and sleeping around, while expressing a smug self-loathing for the callousness of their gender. A few strive for empathy and thoughtfulness (Alexander Theroux and Brian Bouldrey stand out), but for the rest of these men, being a woman too often means feeling angry, oppressed or prone to tears.

--By Michele Orecklin