Official Review: 100 Women: A Life Story of Sex and Redem...

[RussetDivinity]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "100 Women: A Life Story of Sex and Redemption" by Tyler True.]

---

2 out of 4 stars

---

Share This Review

---

100 Women: A Life Story of Sex and Redemption is exactly what it sounds like: Tyler True has written a book about one hundred women he has had sex with and how he transformed from a sex addict to a better man with a purpose of bringing a radical change to democracy. The book is divided into twelve chapters, and each chapter is further divided into sections, one devoted to each woman. Some of these sections are very short and contain little more than a brief description of the encounter with the woman, while others are considerably longer and go into more detail about his life at the time and his thoughts. The book is very interesting in places, but I felt as though it could have been structured much better, and so I can only give it 2 out of 4 stars.

In the introduction, True warns that the book will likely offend people, and the warning is not given in vain. The book is obviously full of sex, but it also has strong touches of sexism, along with racism and a bit of homophobia. Anyone who reads this book will likely find something to be offended by, even if it’s only one sentence out of over eight hundred pages. Anyone who is offended by cursing and sexual acts that aren’t written about poetically will likely want to give this book a wide berth. There are swear words on about every other page, and the sex is written about very bluntly, sometimes to the point of seeming crude.

While I was offended by some parts of the book, that wasn’t what made the rating so low. The chapters are organized by putting the women into categories (for example: “Older Women” or “Military Girls”), and while this is an effective way of grouping them, it does make his redemption something of a surprise. He does mention several times through the book that he grew tired of sex, but it still feels very sudden when he reaches that point. Life doesn’t necessarily have a narrative arc, but when shaping life into a book, it can help to find a narrative so the reader doesn’t feel jolted from one part to the next.

The problem with the narrative arc extends into two smaller aspects of the book: True’s desire to revolutionize democracy and his spiritual beliefs. The desire to revolutionize democracy doesn’t come out of nowhere; he brings it up in the introduction, though that at times feels more like a rant than a proper introduction to the book. It mostly vanishes after that point, only coming up a few times during the main body of the book before reappearing as the bulk of the conclusion. His spiritual beliefs also appear with little preamble, and they are the main reason I would have preferred the book to go in chronological order rather than by categories. That way, he could have explained them when they were first mentioned rather than giving bits and pieces along with the promise that they would be properly explained later.

With all these complaints, some might wonder why I didn’t just give the book one star. Despite all its flaws, the book is genuinely interesting, with a few lines that were incredibly funny. Had it been a bit better constructed (and perhaps toned down the sexism a little), I might have given it three stars, though it would have been very close between two and three. I honestly can’t say who this book might appeal to, though if you want to read about a man’s sexual exploits in multiple countries, definitely give this book a shot. It’s one of the most unique autobiographies I’ve ever read.

******
100 Women: A Life Story of Sex and Redemption
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon | on Smashwords

Like RussetDivinity's review? Post a comment saying so!

[frankthomas]

Thank you for the honest review. I desperately needed to get someone's opinion on this book who doesn't know me. The structure does jump all over the place but I have to disagree that putting the women into chronological order is the solution. As for the sexism, all I can say is that I give it to myself more than anyone else...I hope that's somewhat of an excuse I really appreciate you obviously reading through the whole book despite the offensive and graphic nature. Good job.

[Thimble]

Great review. It sounds like you described it very well. It doesn't seem like a book I want to read, but it was interesting learning about it.

~Thimble

[Lisalovecraft]

This is a thorough and well written review. While the title of the book is catchy, this is not something I would ever be interested in reading. I get annoyed just thinking about the chapters being set up by types of women, as if women are just items to be categoried.