From Publishers Weekly
Contrary to the lurid title (a "round-heeled woman" was once slang for a prostitute), Juska is a semiretired English teacher with refined tastes: Trollope novels , opera and museums. "Before I turn 67-next March," she wrote to the personals column of the New York Review of Books, "I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like." While her adventures meeting these men frame her narrative, she's no geriatric Emmanuelle on a coast-to-coast fling, in spite of proclamations like "I adore penises." It's just that she was raised by repressed Midwesterners and had never managed-given her spiritual and physical bulk-a truly fulfilling love affair. Married to a loveless man, she then spent years in social retreat as a single mom. By the time she emerged from her chrysalis, she realized she'd never had a chance at pleasure, hence the ad and her comic adventures with the assortment of men culled from the daily mail. While it's no surprise that the best man comes last and that he's a hunk with a brilliant mind, this Harold-Maude liaison is hardly the most compelling chapter of this quirky little memoir. Surprisingly, it's Juska's accounts of visiting the Berg collection at the New York Public Library, or the stories of her writing classes at a prison, that remain in mind, long after her personals game has faded. Old women looking for sex may not seem a hot topic, but there's something universal in this woman's love affair with the written word.Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
"Before I turn 67--next March--I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me." When Juska, a retired schoolteacher from Berkeley, placed this ad in the New York Review of Books, she was relatively happy with her life except that "it didn't have any touching in it." This thoroughly engaging memoir not only describes her attempt to find someone to touch, but also recounts the story of her life up to the point she placed the ad. "I am . . . a cliche," she laments, after describing her history of sexual abuse, repressed memory syndrome, weight and drug problems. The litany is familiar, to be sure, but there is nothing cliched about Juska's determination to reinvent herself. We learn of her sexual adventures and of the resulting emotional entanglements, but what is most amazing about this refreshingly honest, remarkably candid story isn't the senior sex but the courage shown by a round-heeled woman who decided it was time to pursue passion with a vengeance. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
Advance praise for A Round-Heeled Woman

“Feisty, charming, moving and wise, this page-turner of a memoir proves that life for a woman—sexual and otherwise—hardly stops at thirty-nine . . . forty-nine or fifty-nine.” —Cathi Hanauer, editor of The Bitch in the House and author of My Sister’s Bones

“Juska has a good sense of humor, and of course, her favorite writer is Anthony Trollope. She likes the way he treats women in his novels. Let’s wish her a happy birthday and buy her book. I really liked it.” —Liz Smith, “Page Six,” New York Post

“Juska writes well about the sex . . . but even better about the seductions, which take on the luster of years served. Expressive and touching: readers will be rooting for Juska to get all that she wants.” —Kirkus Reviews

“There’s something universal in [Juska’s] love affair with the written word.” —Publishers Weekly


From the Hardcover edition.


Review
Advance praise for A Round-Heeled Woman

?Feisty, charming, moving and wise, this page-turner of a memoir proves that life for a woman?sexual and otherwise?hardly stops at thirty-nine . . . forty-nine or fifty-nine.? ?Cathi Hanauer, editor of The Bitch in the House and author of My Sister?s Bones

?Juska has a good sense of humor, and of course, her favorite writer is Anthony Trollope. She likes the way he treats women in his novels. Let?s wish her a happy birthday and buy her book. I really liked it.? ?Liz Smith, ?Page Six,? New York Post

?Juska writes well about the sex . . . but even better about the seductions, which take on the luster of years served. Expressive and touching: readers will be rooting for Juska to get all that she wants.? ?Kirkus Reviews

?There?s something universal in [Juska?s] love affair with the written word.? ?Publishers Weekly


From the Hardcover edition.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

""Round-heeled" is an old-fashioned label for a woman who is promiscuous - someone who nowadays might be called "easy." It's a surprising way for a cultured English teacher with a passion for the novels of Anthony Trollope to describe herself, but then that's just the first of many surprises to be found in this poignant, funny, utterly unique memoir. Jane Juska is a smart, energetic divorcee who decided she'd been celibate too long, and placed the following personal ad in her favorite newspaper, The New York Review of Books: Before I turn 67 - next March - I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like. If you want to talk first, Trollope works for me." This closing reference was a nod to her favorite author, of course. The response was overwhelming, and Juska took a sabbatical from teaching to meet some of the men who had replied. And since her ad made it clear that she wasn't expecting just hand-holding, her dates zipped from first base to home plate in record time.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Contrary to the lurid title (a "round-heeled woman" was once slang for a prostitute), Juska is a semiretired English teacher with refined tastes: Trollope novels , opera and museums. "Before I turn 67-next March," she wrote to the personals column of the New York Review of Books, "I would like to have a lot of sex with a man I like." While her adventures meeting these men frame her narrative, she's no geriatric Emmanuelle on a coast-to-coast fling, in spite of proclamations like "I adore penises." It's just that she was raised by repressed Midwesterners and had never managed-given her spiritual and physical bulk-a truly fulfilling love affair. Married to a loveless man, she then spent years in social retreat as a single mom. By the time she emerged from her chrysalis, she realized she'd never had a chance at pleasure, hence the ad and her comic adventures with the assortment of men culled from the daily mail. While it's no surprise that the best man comes last and that he's a hunk with a brilliant mind, this Harold-Maude liaison is hardly the most compelling chapter of this quirky little memoir. Surprisingly, it's Juska's accounts of visiting the Berg collection at the New York Public Library, or the stories of her writing classes at a prison, that remain in mind, long after her personals game has faded. Old women looking for sex may not seem a hot topic, but there's something universal in this woman's love affair with the written word. Agent, Ginger Barber. (On sale May 6) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Divorced and dateless for 30 years, Juska retired from teaching and spent five years in psychoanalysis. Then, feeling newly awakened at age 66, she placed a personals ad in the New York Review of Books seeking "a lot of sex with a man I like." Could this dowager out-Bridget Ms. Jones and live up to her favorite author, Trollope? You betcha. Juska spins an engaging memoir about her exploits, wryly comic and bittersweet, an Everywoman confronting the legendary meat market of romance. And an uncommonly literary Everywoman, dancing with similarly intellectual, if endlessly frustrating, partners. Alas, Juska's scholarly background could not prepare her for the seductive but mercurial behavior of the opposite sex. (Perhaps men are from the planet Janus.) A hopeful rather than happy ending, but, hell, "it's not the ninth inning until it is." Juska taught storytelling as well as literature, and her skill is evident as she interweaves her prior life history with her recent sexual adventures. This page-turner is highly recommended for collections in sociosexuality, aging, and contemporary autobiography. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/1/03.]-Martha Cornog, Philadelphia Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews