Dinnerstein, a womens' studies professor at the University of Arizona, interviewed 22 women born between 1936 and 1944 about the conflicts, pressures and opportunities in the lives of middle-aged American women.

All the women are white, middle class and married; all have careers but have also spent at least three years at home caring for children. Dinnerstein examines the two worlds these women have straddled: the traditional one of their youth, which dictated strict boundaries based on gender; and the world in which they have grown to middle age, with its expanding prospects and new tensions for women.

Virginia Reed, now an economics professor, says of her life when she was at home taking care of her three children and socializing with other women in similar situations, ``It occurred to me that redecorating each other's bedrooms and playing golf together was really not much to do with the next thirty years of your life.'' Such vivid and powerful quotes illuminate Dinnerstein's timely findings, which are unfortunately weighed down with step-by-step conclusions and summaries of information that has already been made quite clear.

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