Staff Pick
I found this book to be upsetting, and appropriately so. Though peppered with humorous stories, the statistics about violence against women are what stuck in my mind. It's slim enough to be read in one sitting, but you may want to read it twice to fully absorb the information. I highly recommend this for anyone even remotely interested in the current culture of sexism in the USA. Recommended By Anna M., Powells.com
Because of the variety in this collection, I'd recommend this book both to people who are passingly curious about women's studies/feminism as well as those who already know their way around the basics. The very first essay hooked me right away with its sharp humor.
It's also a pleasure to watch Solnit cover power and gender in these essays because she has written so many other books on a huge variety of topics that her experience as a writer and thoroughness shine through. Recommended By Junix S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
"This slim book — seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez — hums with power and wit." —Boston Globe
"The antidote to mansplaining." —The Stranger
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions." —Salon
"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society." —San Francisco Chronicle Top Shelf
"Solnit [is] the perfect writer to tackle the subject: her prose style is so clear and cool." —The New Republic
"The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost." —National Post
In her comic, scathing essay, "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.
This updated edition with two new essays of this national bestseller book features that now-classic essay as well as "#YesAllWomen," an essay written in response to 2014 Isla Vista killings and the grassroots movement that arose with it to end violence against women and misogyny, and the essay "Cassandra Syndrome." This book is also available in hardcover.
Review
"Solnit's pull-no-punches observations...make this a valuable contribution to feminist theory." The Indypendent
Review
"Fantastic." Amanda Palmer
Review
"A riveting collection of feminist essays." Chicagoist
Review
"A brilliant, varied, and thoroughly enjoyable read and definitely an addition to my list of feminist faves." Lip Magazine
Review
"An engaging primer on the realities of mansplaining." Bitch Magazine
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"Sharp-witted and bold...quintessential Solnit." Publishers Weekly
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"Sharp narratives that illuminate and challenge the status quo of women's roles in the world. Slim in scope, but yet another good book by Solnit." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
This slim book--seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez--hums with power and wit.--Boston Globe
The antidote to mansplaining.--The Stranger
Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions.--Salon
Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society.--San Francisco Chronicle Top Shelf
Solnit is] the perfect writer to tackle the subject: her prose style is so clear and cool.--The New Republic
The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost.--National Post
In her comic, scathing essay, Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.
This updated edition with two new essays of this national bestseller book features that now-classic essay as well as #YesAllWomen, an essay written in response to 2014 Isla Vista killings and the grassroots movement that arose with it to end violence against women and misogyny, and the essay Cassandra Syndrome. This book is also available in hardcover.
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of eighteen or so books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including the books Men Explain Things to Me and Hope in the Dark, both also with Haymarket; a trilogy of atlases of American cities; The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at Harper's and a regular contributor to the Guardian.
About the Author
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of sixteen books about environment, landscape, community, art, politics, hope, and memory, including
Hope in the Dark: Untold
Histories, Wild Possibilities, (which began as her first TomDispatch essay back in 2003); The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism and the Lannan Literary Award); and atlases of San Francisco and New Orleans. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a contributing editor to Harpers and frequent contributor to TomDispatch.