Rosie the riveter look out there are new breeds of women taking charge on stages not tied to the home fire burning. A incredible insight into where we as women have sought to Steve outside the home. An unpolitical look at smart women of all ilks. I loved the contrast this book offered. I loved the grit and grace of these women. It should be mandatory in Woman’s Study classes .

Unique book showcasing women in non-traditional job fields and highlighting how they came to be in their jobs including hurdles and roadblocks they faced along the way. The pictures of each woman interviewed are by far the best part of the book. The portraits are exquisite and portray the strength each woman perfectly. The interviews that went along with the portraits were well-intended but a bit drawn out and repetitive. After a few, I felt they were all the same commentary. I wish that the interviews would have been a bit more personal and detailed. This is not a read-through book, but instead a pick-up and enjoy at leisure type book and would make a lovely coffee table book.

This book was…underwhelming. The photographs are beautiful, and the book definitely covers a lot of ground career-path wise, but nevertheless I have a few bones to pick.

First of all, it seems inaccurate to call what accompanies these photographs interviews. If anything, they read like personal essays. I don’t know if that is meant to mean that Crisman sent each woman a list of questions and asked them to interpret them how they like and send their responses back in a memoir-esque format or not, but that’s kind of how it feels. Like, everyone covers most of the same basic information, but they don’t feel very consistently formed. Which isn’t a problem for me so much as it is a source of minor confusion.

My second, and final “issue” (if you can call it that) is that while I won’t argue that each of these women is a part of a career field that is typically not overly female-friendly (unfortunately, surprisingly few things that don’t involve caregiving are, even today) which is REALLY cool, I will argue that it is kind of boring to only hear from women who received consistent support and encouragement from those around them, since that is not a reality that many of us are ever confronted with. It would have been nice to see even one or two women in there whose stories didn’t include extremely supportive families or coworkers, mentors, or financial means. It seems to me that every single woman had at least one of those things – which is wonderful for them, but again, not a reality for a lot of us.

I just wanted there to be one woman in there who said something to the effect of, “Nobody thought I could do it, but I did,” or “Nobody took me seriously, but here I am.” You know? Something empowering! It was great to see a bunch of women talking about their interesting experiences (and they were all interesting, I don’t want to diminish that), I just wish that one or two of those profiles would have been a little more rags-to-riches. I mean, we have to hear about that all the time in stories of “self-made” men, so it would be nice to see it about a woman now and again too. Unless the reality is that as women, we still have enough working against us professionally that this isn’t a valid scenario for us yet…

This book is underwhelming. Based on the description, i expected the photography to be more artistic. Instead it feels like the kind of personal-branding portraiture used on websites and to accompany news articles/profile features. So, not a coffee-table/art book.

The interviews are interesting enough, but as a whole, this feels like a series of pieces for a website, newsletter, or periodical, not a book. I appreciate reading about these women's careers, but at the same time, it feels like this is a book from the 20th century. I don't consider most of these jobs to be "male" jobs--sure, the lobster fisherwoman maybe, or the miner are unusual careers for women, but owning your own business?

Disappointed overall, but perhaps this would be a helpful book for a high school guidance counselor to have in a particularly backwards community.