I’d read some good reviews of Bad Feminist (2014) by Roxane Gay, and I usually enjoy feminist books. They give me a refreshing and different perspective from what I often face at work. I especially enjoy reading about real-life stories that I can relate to and small, concrete ideas to make things better. I’ve really enjoyed the other feminist books I’ve read , and I was looking forward to this one. Unfortunately, this book wasn’t what I was expecting, and I ended up being disappointed. If […]
I love this book so much.
First, if you haven’t yet read the masterpiece that is Roxane Gay’s recap of Magic Mike XXL, go do that first. Done? Okay, so this book is nothing like that Magic Mike XXL recap, excepting that they are both written by the same very talented writer, who can slip effortlessly from writing obscene yet gut-bustingly hilarious movie recaps with a smidgen of feministic leanings, to writing very deeply personal and intelligent, well-reasoned essays about body image and sexuality and pop culture and rape and race in the […]
Just go read the damn book.
I just can’t say anything bad about Roxane Gay. I love The Butter (and The Toast), and I adored every essay in Bad Feminist. Reading Bad Feminist was like hanging out in my bedroom with my high school best friend. I felt warm, and safe, and happy all the way through. Gay writes from the heart and she isn’t afraid to look carefully at herself and admit some shit is hard for her to do. She’s honest and funny. And that’s it. That’s all you need […]
This book pissed me off.
So, here’s the deal. I was going to try and write a cogent, well-thought out review of exactly why I disliked this book so much, but it’s not working out that way. The more I sit here trying to think of things to say, the more my blood pressure skyrockets and I get more and more retroactively angry at the book. At first, I wanted to give this book two stars, because there are a couple of essays in here that felt valid to me, […]
Me Read Funny Essays One Day
I don’t know, guys. I just don’t know. I don’t get it. I mean, sure, David Sedaris is a writer who writes stuff and it’s kind of funny, but I don’t really “get” it. I’m supposed to be in the right demographic: I’m a cynical gen-Xer with a skewed outlook on life, but I really didn’t find these stories all that funny. They were interesting, but in an “I’m stuck at a dinner party with this guy dominating the conversation” way. I don’t know if […]
Awesome Feminist
I’ve heard many people reference this collection of essays, to the point where I sought out the author’s twitter feed so I could get a feel myself about what her writing was about. After having enjoyed her (often random) tweets for a while now, I finally picked up her book. Well, I downloaded it. And now I’m mostly just mad that it took me this long. I really should have just read it the second I heard about it. Ms. Gay writes about many different […]