title: Desire: Women Write About Wanting
author: Lisa Solod Warren
description: This uneven collection ranges from sublime reflections on the death of a friend to embarrassing musings about blow-jobs. In a memorable selection, 74-year-old memoirist Jane Juska (Unaccompanied Women) examines, with biting humor, why women want to look young, while journalist Warren, the volume's editor, describes the intimacy she found only after leaving her first marriage. But far more transgressive and startling than the predictable pieces about sex is contributor Janice Eidus's (The War of the Rosens) frank declaration that what she desires most is money, though she eventually casts this desire in traditionally feminine terms by explaining that the money is to help provide for her daughter. K. W. Oxnard's ode to babylust is powerful and funny, but it concludes with the same unsatisfying vagueness as the collection as a whole. Warren's introduction lacks the crucial assessment of the commonplace notion that women are trained to ignore or subvert desire. Despite leaving unexamined her conclusion that the range of desires expressed in this collection is "just skimming the surface," Warren has collected an enjoyable and thought-provoking variety of essays. <BR>Copyright &copy; Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
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  WHAT A WOMAN DESIRES
  
  Despite his unwillingness to see her in Bath, he could not let her forget for
  a moment where he belonged. “I belong here with my family. This will be a
  visit only.” He inhaled and drew his hands from her face to her shoulders and
  upper arms. He held her. “But I’ll come and see your life as you are willing
  to see mine. Then together—”
  
  “We’ll see what can be done.” She smiled. “That’s all I ask.” She lifted onto
  her toes and pressed her lips to his . . . before immediately pulling back.
  “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have . . .”
  
  Time stood still.
  
  Every beat of his heart echoed her name in his head and his common sense fled
  on a wind of a change. “Yes, you should.”
  
  He gripped her waist and brought her body against his. He looked deep into her
  eyes, asking the question and seeking permission. The desire in her eyes was
  all he needed. They were alone and unattended. Alone and unobserved. He wanted
  to steal this moment to feel her lips against his a se