THE FEMINIST AND THE COWBOY An Unlikely Love Story

Celeste Ciulla narrates bestselling author Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez's account of how her romance with a conservative cowboy led her to reconsider her lifelong feminist beliefs. Ciulla is saucy as the middle-aged Valdes-Rodriguez, who is completely smitten with her new boyfriend, whom she refers to simply as "the cowboy" throughout the work. Ciulla portrays Valdes-Rodriguez's outspoken nature and her ramped-up enthusiasm for both the cowboy and his traditional values, including stereotypical gender roles. Listeners may be alarmed, however, to hear how readily she accepts all the terms the cowboy sets for the course of their relationship and her "taming." Revelations of abuse in the relationship that emerged following the book's publication cast a shadow over its entire message. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine [Published: APRIL 2013]