Bad Feminist is a book of essays in a time where social justice is getting perhaps more mainstream positive press than any time before. While every thinkpiece in this vein will have detractors, such thinkpieces have more outlets and more exposure than they might have enjoyed even ten years ago, when blogging was an established medium for this kind of thing but the social justice corner was still just that — a corner. What that means is that Bad Feminist doesn’t necessarily cover new ground, […]
It looks like larva no matter how you cook it.
Laurie Notaro’s 8th book of essays, “The Potty Mouth at the Table,” is ostensibly about manners, but really it ranges from her weird obsession of buying fabric online to her friend coping with terminal cancer. As with any book of essays, there are some hits and some misses but overall it is a decent bit of fluff from a pretty great writer. Unfortunately it’s not her best work and I hope she gets her mojo back with her next book. I had to pull […]
I Didn’t Know How Much I Needed to Read This
This collection of essays contains the type of work I dream of doing. The writing is fantastic, and every sentence, every word serves a purpose. It is descriptive but not flowery; the author makes her case in each essay clearly and convincingly, yet still manages to challenge the reader. You may be familiar with the titular essay in Rebecca Solnit’s collection “Men Explain Things to Me.” The essay was born from an experience she had at a party, where someone introduced her to a man […]
The Misadventures of an Idiot Girl
For my first Cannonball 8 review (and my first book review. . .ever!), I reread one of Laurie Notaro’s essay collections. I own all of these and love to revisit them from time to time. This summer, however, during a move-induced purging frenzy, I accidentally sold my copy of the Flaming Tantrum of Death. I borrowed it from the library to see if it was worth buying again. While there are a couple essays in here that fall flat for me (or maybe I’ve just reread them too […]
Sarajevo to Chicago
I actually first saw this book on a list for new releases in 2013, and though it peaked my interest, I didn’t hear much of anything else about it, so I decided to wait. I finally picked it up recently, and thought it was a pleasant enough read. Some of the essays were incredibly moving, while a few others didn’t quite work for me though they were well-written. I just don’t tend to pick up short fiction or non-fiction that often, and when I do, […]