In reply to Katherine.

Oh Katherine, we're nothing if not trendy. I've heard tons about the book as well, and I'm going one step further with my trendyness to write this month's newspaper article about this complex issue. What gets me about Nicholas Kristof, while I agree with a lot that he says on his NYT blog, is that he places the problem in far off places, both geographically and ideologically--in Africa and in the Muslim World. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LOOK THAT FAR! In some cases the abuses he talks about happen in the US, they're all just hush hush and in others, like the maternal mortality, just venture south of the border. It's not far off, far away, someone elses' problem. It's right here, right now, right next to us whenever we decide to pay attention to it.
I'm still interested in reading the book, but will maintain my gripes.