New York Times columnist Maureen Dowd is phenomenally popular in the US, where this book has been a colossal bestseller. A column based on the book was her paper's no. 1 most-read article for 2005. (No. 2 was also by Dowd.) Of course, often this kind of popularity doesn't translate, but after reading this witty, razor-sharp take on the contemporary battle of the sexes, I can see what all the fuss is about. Are Men Necessary? is a bit like Carrie Bradshaw crossed with Margo Kingston or Virginia Trioli (Dowd covered the Washington beat prior to becoming columnist-at-large, and it shows in her effortless riffs on political matters.) This book covers, among other things: why IQ & salary are a turn-on in a man and the opposite in a woman; the resurgence of 1950s-style books on man-catching (and wrangling); the hyper-sexual culture; the use-by date of women in the workplace; and the confused state of male-female relations. This is a woman who can discuss the politics of Bill and Hillary and the politics of sex and dating with equal savvy - and blended the two with her coverage of 'Monicagate'. (She writes hilariously of being confronted by an angry Monica in a NY restaurant.) Anyone who enjoyed Female Chauvinist Pigs or likes the idea of Sex in the City with an intellectual twist should introduce themselves to the pleasures of Maureen Dowd - now!

Jo Case is from Readings Carlton