A Return to Modesty

“Wendy Shalit’s first book, A Return to Modesty… created a storm when it was published nine years ago…As a veteran of pro-sex feminism who still endorses pornography and prostitution, I say more power to all these chaste young women who are defending their individuality and defying groupthink and social convention. That is true feminism!” – Camille Paglia
“Her book has touched a nerve in a society overdosed on sex…Shalit defends…compellingly, shame, privacy, gallantry, and sexual reticence” – Tamala M. Edwards * Time *
“Ms. Shalit marshals impressive evidence from philosophers as well as the tabloids to make her case for a return to modesty – as both a sexual ideal and a strategy for greater pleasure…[a] serious yet bouncy study” – Ruth R. Wisse * The Wall Street Journal *
“A Return to Modesty provides one invaluable service. There is a growing body of scholarly research on young adulthood that may, in the aftermath of Shalit’s booming polemic, be more difficult to ignore.” – Emily Eakin * The New York Times Book Review *
“The book of the moment…makes a compelling case for the idea that the sexual revolution hasn’t been entirely good for either women or men…Social workers, health professionals and others who bemoan the loss of “boundaries” in the lives of troubled girls will find a hopeful message in the book” – Shari Roan * Los Angeles Times *
“The first book of its kind…to blaze down the center of the postfeminist battleground between left and right.” – Norah Vincent * Salon *
”[An] earnest and serious book….A fascinating subject [brought] to our attention in a fresh way.” – Suzanne Field * The Washington Times *
“A Return to Modesty is…so uncompromising in voice and stance that one is tempted to think of its author as Simone de Shalit or Wendy Wollstonecraft, but make no mistake: she imitates nothing and no one…Every page of this book [is] wise, fresh, and funny, sparkling with her special brand of astringent charm” – Florence King * National Review *

Wendy Shalit began to write A Return to Modesty as an undergrad at Williams College, where she received her BA in philosophy. She is also the author of The Good Girl Revolution and her essays on literary and cultural topics have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and other publications. Now that she is the mother of three lively and opinionated children, she is more modest and humbled than ever before.

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