Book Report: “A Boob’s Life – How America’s Obsession Shaped Me…And You” by Leslie Lehr

In a prior post, I promised to review at least one of the books on my summer 2021 bedside reading stack. There may be another one, but this tome clearly engaged more of my curiosity and summer reading time than the others. One of my favorite aisles at my local public library is the “New Best Sellers”.  So, when “A Boob’s Life – How America’s Obsession Shaped me…And You” (Pegasus $27.95 9781643136226) caught my eyes, I knew it was not another mid-summer night’s walking in my sleep dream, put on the brakes and stepped-back to examine it; soon adding it to my borrows that day.

Upon the early pages, I thought, “Geez, another angry b**** book,  I’m not gonna read much of this for long – take it back to the library…”  I never did so, even though she vituperates several natural and innocent bastions of male comeuppance, like Playboy magazine.  Moving through the chapters, it is so detailed, that she must have been constantly taking notes, or has an incredibly accurate memory of events!

Ms. Lehr writes from a – z about her family life; giving the reader a whole tour, from the time her Princeton grad father baptized her over a swimming pool diving board to be able to do “whatever [she] put her mind to”, to secret family photos , the infatuation with Marilyn Monroe and her dysfunctionally abusive, former U.S. Marine Corps first husband (no surprise there).  That she pulls back the curtain on the fallacies of major beauty pageants, the misogyny of a certain “President” who many recently suffered under and coins phresh phrases like “comparative empathy” and “breasts have the power to feed or kill us…” (Whoa!), kept me turning the pages. I could understand it when she wrote how, “Breast cancer ruined an entire color for me.”

Although I believe that she aimed this autoboobography primarily at the female feminist demographic, I, as a man, learned much about the female experience, including several new words and phrases for my vocabulary; the favorite of which is “de`colletage”! I also learned, “oeuvre”, “hand bra” and about “messy leaking”.  Wow.  I love any work that sends me to my huge, big dictionary!

Honestly, this read gave me a new respect level for women, who are truly a whole different species (as I’ve always maintained), with very special “plumbing” needs. I’ve adjusted, am “scared straight” and will revisit case-by-case, while remaining a suave bachelor “breast man” (lol) in those flirty situations “in the hunt”, for that extra special one, whose I can tenderly examine and care for:-j

In a personal ironic twist, a chapter in this book about boobs reminded me of when I sold Christmas cards door-to-door in my boyhood neighborhood for a microscope and other prizes!  OMG  It is during this point in the book where she sounds miffed, as we follow her booby journey from pre-puberty through a tragic adult happenstance.

“A Boob’s Life” is clever, amusing and modestly entertaining initially, uncomfortable for the medically squeamish (like me) in the middle – with a nice photo album section mid-stream – and inclusively optimistic by her last word – “life”.  No matter what shape your gender is in, I recommend it with five (5) out-of-a-possible-five lipsticks –

(I couldn’t locate any pix of ‘five boobs’ to use).

My Summer 2021 Night Table Reading List

If you are an Achilliad frequent-flyer, you know I was an English/Communications (double) Major at the university and that I review or report on books I read, from time-to-time. Its much more pleasurable to read for fun and information than for a grade, by the way! So this season, I have a new reason to try a different angle: letting you VIPs see what is on my bedside bookshelf reading list this summer!

I don’t promise to review or report on all of these, but in any event, they caught my eyes at the library long enough to bring home for a closer look!

Of particular note is “A Boob’s Life”, by Leslie Lehr, which hooked me – maybe because I’m a “breast man” – long enough to tap into my curiosity about how women really feel (no pun intended) about their titties. I am into it already and the author seems kind of angry with historic purpose.

The other hottie at my bedside is Daniel James Brown’s “Facing The Mountain”, which is about the mistreatment of Japanese Americans in the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor attack on us during World War II. Fascinatingly relevant on so many levels to our American circumstances even here in the summer of 2021.

“Little Fires Everywhere”, by Celeste Ng, is a novel that just cannot seem to snag my attention long enough to finish – it drags a bit, despite excellent reviews when it came out. I want to see it through, but may have to purchase it if I run out of library renews.

On the historical tip is Ronald C. White’s “Lincoln In Private”, which are the written etchings of the man who many hold up as our greatest American President, Abraham Lincoln. It is a kind of “behind-the-scenes” look at the notes he wrote in-between crafting and delivering his lectures and speeches about the issues during his times; some of it resonates to our collective current calamities.

So that’s IT! As the public service announcement used to say, “Reading Is FUNdamental!”Have a good reading summer, wherever your travels take you, and maybe we can compare notes and opinions in the Autumn.