cover image I Can't Believe She Did That!: Why Women Betray Other Women at Work

I Can't Believe She Did That!: Why Women Betray Other Women at Work

Nan Mooney. St. Martin's Press, $23.95 (259pp) ISBN 978-0-312-32206-9

Mooney, whose well-received memoir, My Racing Heart (HarperCollins, 2002), about the world of thoroughbred horse racing, now examines a more vicious race-women versus women in the workplace-offering a vibrant, studied counterpoint to a touchy subject that's been fodder for many novels of the The Devil Wears Prada persuasion. The prickly dynamics that often develop between women in the workplace-both the subtle stabs-in-the-back and outright executive hair-pulling-are essentially tied up in our society's definition of what it means to be feminine, says Mooney; even though women have ""grown more comfortable with ambition, competition, and success,"" they still place great value on ""communication and relationships, on being liked and being nice."" Mooney visits a broad range of offices from all over the country, and the voices of these ""scientists, social workers, waitresses, lawyers, bankers, soldiers, editors, salespeople, athletes, and schoolteachers"" resonate with the same frustrations, disappointment, feelings of betrayal and guilt, and reveal both patterns of behavior (such as ""looking clean and dealing dirty"" and ""the new tokenism"") and longstanding issues that affect interaction between women at work (physical attractiveness, work-life balance, race and class issues, and age differences). Any woman who's felt the sting of a workplace snub will appreciate this long overdue book and its jaw-dropping anecdotes about conniving, clawing and incredulous women.