“Ms. Shalit marshals impressive evidence from philosophers as well as the tabloids to make her case for a return to modesty—as both a sexual ideal and a strategy for greater pleasure—[a] serious yet bouncy study.”

“Intriguing . . . [Shalit] writes about . . . how not going through with something can leave a deeper imprint on your imagination than going through with it, and how we have lost the playfulness and mystery of old-fashioned courtship.”

“The new me was chaste and modest . . . a born-again virgin who went ice skating with her sweetheart and then home to bed.The new me was Wendy, not Ally.”

“[Shalit] writes well, has read widely, has a keen sense for the fault lines in an argument, and is willing to buck the prevailing tides. Al-though this is in some respects a young woman’s book written for other young women, I wonder if we ought not be recommending it to young men. They might learn from it some important lessons about masculine character and conduct in our culture.”

“A heartfelt (and controversial) plea. . . . A daring book aimed at the core of contemporary gender theory. . . . It is audacious, and it should not be dismissed. ”

“What makes Wendy Shalit’s analysis so refreshing is that she examines and justifies the nature of sexual modesty through rational dis-course, rather than relying solely on the increasingly remote influence of religion.”

“[Shalit is] outspoken, funny, very bright . . . because she is clever, un-afraid, and outspoken, her voice is going to be heard for a long time . . .”

“Surveying the scene of contemporary sexual mores,Wendy Shalit has the courage to announce the emperor is naked.Written with style,pas-sion, and plenty of wit, this volume will signal the beginning of a new trend, and make fashionable, once again, a more vocabulary of sex that has been lost to us.”

“One of the big hits of the semester was Wendy Shalit’s A Return to Modesty. The students were floored by her critique of hookup culture, and they spent so much time talking about modesty as a virtue. It allowed them to say, “Wow, we’re witness to all this vulgarity on campus. We pretend that we’re okay with it, but we’re not.” I actually had students who for their final project proposed a modesty club. I’m sitting here thinking, This is Boston University. It made me think Shalit published her book 10 years too early, because the Left reviled her when she published it [in 1999]. For my class, she could do no wrong. I think that’s really telling.”

“A Return to Modesty provides one invaluable service. There is a growing body of scholarly research on young adulthood that may, in the aftermath of Shalit’s booming polemic, be more difficult to ignore.”

“[An] earnest and serious book. . . . A fascinating subject [brought] to our attention in a fresh way.”

“Brilliant . . . ”

“A remarkably mature consideration of the history of manners be-tween men and women. . . . Modesty and sexual shyness are a wom¬an’s way of telling the world that what she hides is worth waiting to see. That she is rare, not common. . . . Shalit gives voice to my gut feelings.”

“I can scarcely do justice to this excellent book. . . . This is a book that should be read by parents and young people alike—yes, boys, too.”

“A powerful and witty book that registers all the changes in our social landscape in all their starkness while also illuminating many of the steps that brought us to where we are. . . . A Return to Modesty seeks to reclaim what has been forgotten: that sex is significant. . . . Shalit has seen deeply into female nature, and into the malaise of a generation.”

“Shalit assails a culture in which ‘scoring’ is a virtue, but acting like ladies and gentlemen is not. Old-fashioned? Perhaps. Persuasive? Absolutely.”

“In this slashing critique of ‘the world of postmodern sexual morality,’ A Return to Modesty surveys a cultural landscape in which people often select automobiles with more passion than lovers. . . . Written with sophistication, wit, and compassion that never becomes preachy . . .”

“In this book Wendy Shalit brilliantly demonstrates how our views of natural modesty have been perverted by ideology. . . . Her book is a tour de force everyone should read and reflect upon. It is a return to first-rate sociology without jargon, an examination of the values of the culture at the end of our century.”

“Wendy Shalit has written a book for all of us—feminists, antifeminists, conservatives, and liberals. By reclaiming modesty, Shalit argues, we might reclaim not only an overlooked but essential cornerstone of a good and stable life, but also a source of merriment and joy—the wellspring for a virtuous and secret eroticism that puts a twinkle in the eye, and shines rather than tarnishes the heart.”

“A Return to Modesty is...so uncompromising in voice and stance that one is tempted to think of its author as Simone de Shalit or Wendy Wollstonecraft, but make no mistake: she imitates nothing and no one...Every page of this book [is] wise, fresh, and funny, sparkling with her special brand of astringent charm.”

“The first book of its kind . . . to blaze down the center of the postfem-inist battleground between left and right.”

“[An] important book that every thinking young woman (and her mother) should read.”

“Wendy Shalit makes a strong case that deserves respectful . . . attention.”

“Shalit is a fiercely intelligent and resourceful critic. . . . We should all pay heed. ”

“I find I like Wendy Shalit very much, both as a writer and, even more, as a fierce defender of young women’s right to establish boundaries of their own.”

“This book is a bombshell. . . . Her playful, engaging exploration of the richly nuanced concept of modesty is extensively researched and amply supported by evidence drawn from sources as diverse as Glamour and last millennium’s Talmud.”

“When [Shalit] speaks of modesty, she talks about mystery, innocence and sexual reticence, about protecting romantic hope and vulnerabil¬ity. It’s a natural instinct, a lost idea—a virtue found in the Bible that has gone out of fashion, but, of late, [is] finding new adherents. She ex¬plains that modesty comes from a sense of self-respect and confidence, qualities she exudes.”

“Wendy Shalit’s invocation of some old virtues is nothing less than a prescription for a new sexual revolution.”