I was excited to read the book because it talked about even how unattractive or intelligent women can be seductresses. However, all the author talked about was how the various artists, intellectuals, and adventurers used sex to get what they wanted from men. Basically, the author reduces women to physical beings and tries to justify this treatment by comparing the women in her book to the Sumerian goddess, Inanna. There was no everlasting love for these women, a myth if there ever was one. And then Prioleau claims that if women reclaim their sexual selves, they will gain the everlasting love that has been eluding them. Essentially, the book is BS and I wouldn't give this book to anyone. I would actually advise friends and family members to avoid it at all costs. It just perpetuates the image of women as sexual creatures to be used by men in exchange for power, money, fame, and security.