Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay

 

I've had the signed paperback edition of Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay ever since attending the Bay Area Book Festival in 2017 where I heard Roxane Gay speak at an in person event. 

Despite the fact that I've been wanting to read Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay for years, I've kept putting it off until this year when I finally listened to the audio version! One of the reasons I've put off reading Bad Feminist is because I don't normally gravitate towards nonfiction essays despite the fact that I enjoy Roxane Gay's writing. However, nonfiction essays worked in my favor while listening to Bad Feminist this month. Each nonfiction essay was relatively short in length. I was able to enjoy each essay as it was presented and then come back for more when I was ready for the next essay as time permitted with my busier schedule this month.

I liked this collection of nonfiction essays by Roxane Gay. I don't think there was a bad essay in the bunch. Although, of course, there were some essays I enjoyed more than others. The essays seemed to run a diverse range of topics, which I enjoyed. I actually learned a lot about Roxane Gay... Like the fun factoids that Roxane Gay is a competitive Scrabble player, loved the Sweet Valley High series as a youngster, and her favorite color is pink.

Below is a summary for Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay from Chirp's website:

A collection of essays spanning politics, criticism, and feminism from one of the most-watched cultural observers of her generation

In these funny and insightful essays, Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of color (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny, and spot-on look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better, coming from one of our most interesting and important cultural critics.

I am giving Bad Feminist: Essays by Roxane Gay a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!