Jennifer Fever Older Men Younger Women Author:Barbara Gordon "She arrives with her own set of mythology and jokes, with a claque of ardent supporters and an angry army of opponents. Recommended by ancient doctors...with a wink of male camaraderie, she is what I call a Jennifer." — "Jennifers are sought by the man who knows in his core, in that inner place where facts, folklore, imaginings, and fantasy blen... more »d into something called wisdom, that the only antidote for midlife angst is a younger woman in his life. In his life, on his arm, but preferably in his bed."
With the shrewd curiosity of an investigative journalist and the special understanding of a woman who was once herself a Jennifer, Barbara Gordon has traveled across America and to Europe, and has examined the Jennifer in history in order to explore the phenomenon of Jennifer Fever. Is it simply sexual? Freudian? Cultural? Economic? And if it is, has the women's movement changed the rules of that game? What are the men seeking? Do the young women imagine a time when they might struggle to remain the neutral observer? How does a woman feel when her husband leaves her for a younger woman?
Using personal interviews with all three members of the triangle--the older man, the abandoned wife, and the young Jennifer--and with psychologists, psychiatrists, and marriage counselors, Barbara Gordon probes the motivations of older men and Jennifers, analyses the problems that sometimes arise in the new relationships, explores the manifestation in gay relationships, describes why many men remain Jennifer-proof, and reports on how abandoned wives have not only survivied and recovered from the initial blow, but have gone on to lead productive and rewarding lives--often involving a romantic relationship with a new man.
Jennifer Fever is a wise, witty, and insightful exploration of a facet of male-female relations that is as old as King David and as fresh as tomorrow's gossip column.« less