Choosing one of the few fairy tales that does not conclude with a wedding, Catherine Orenstein reinterprets the many versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" by setting the tale against the mores and values of its times. The result is a highly entertaining and interesting conversation about one of our best-known stories.

Starting with the first-known published version, Orenstein points out Charles Perrault's lesson to young girls entering the lascivious and political court of Louis XIV. She traces the story further back to a shockingly playful rendition that includes bzous (werewolves) and cannibalism. In this version, she revives the symbolism that relates to the feminine by pointing out the odd questions of the bzou: "Which path are you taking... the path of needles or the path of pins?" Orenstein also takes a look at more modern versions, including Anne Sexton's poem "Red Riding Hood" and Matthew Bright's film Freeway, taking on, as she examines these and other modern versions of the old tale, the machismo wolf and the Gen-X grrrl.

Though expansive in her research, Orenstein's interpretations are occasionally too simplistic. In "Grandmother's Tale," Riding Hood's cannibalistic meal of her grandmother is reduced to a "symbolic reminder that the old will be reborn in the young." There is nothing mentioned of the talking cat who decries Riding Hood, saying, "She is a slut who eats the flesh and drinks the blood of her granny!" But what Orenstein lacks in depth, she more than makes up for in her encompassing study. In all, 10 tales are examined, as well as a vast historical study of the times they were published. Written with lively prose, Orenstein has produced a book that will spark thought and conversation, encouraging readers to find the wolf, the grandmother, and the little girl within. --Karin Rosman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

凱瑟琳·奧蘭絲汀，哈佛大學畢業，哥倫比亞大學國際關係學碩士，現為自由作傢，專門撰寫有關女性問題，拉西美洲和海地的文章，《百變小紅帽》的構思源於她的畢業論文。

其作品常見於美國《華盛頓郵報》、《紐約時報》、《仕女雜誌》、《舊金山偵查者周日雜誌》和其他刊物。目前定居紐約。