This Wasn't Supposed to Happen: Single Women Over 30 Talk Frankly about Their Lives

There's a new myth, which took over where the Feminine Mystique left off, the author notes. It's called Having It All, and it afflicts most women regardless of age. But, according to Bakos, a freelance writer whose work has appeared in Working Woman and Savvy, the myth is now beginning to dissolve into realities: that women outnumber marriageable men by nearly two to one; that many women will have to work all their lives; and that they are probably going to be alone. Careers seemed to be the answer to women's lives in the '70s, but the elusive Second Stage, which was to encompass husbands and children, predicted by Betty Friedan has yet to materialize for many, as the book's numerous interviews verify. An unflinching look at the New Woman's life, this is a very readable assessment, informed by Bakos's fast-paced journalistic style. And if there's the faint sound of axe-grinding here, perhaps, as the book indicates, there are legitimate reasons. October