Love Warriors: The Rise of the Marriage Equality Movement and Why It Will Prevail
by Dr. Davina Kotulski
Alyson Books
Girldrive: Criss-Crossing America, Redefining Feminism
by Nona Willis Aronowitz & Emma Bee Bernstein
Seal Press.
I was already daydreaming about how it would be so cute to interview Nona & Emma together for Autostraddle and have Robin photograph Emma and Emma photograph Robin when I got to the part Emma’s bio which reads: “Emma Bee Bernstein died in Venice, Italy, in December 2008 at the age of 23.” Now I’ve been sort of crying at my keyboard, reading eulogies and looking at photographs for the past hour.+
From Feministing: “Emma ended her own life. It’s almost impossible for me conceive of someone that alive now being dead. But I have to believe that she needed release in some profound way that even her beautiful family and friends, that even her relationship to art and feminism, couldn’t provide. It’s not romantic. It’s unacceptable. It’s also a reminder that life is a fragile, fragile thing, a choice that we each make every single day. When Emma was alive, she made the choice fiercely and with her whole being. I thank her for the lesson.”
Get the book, y’hear? And we’ll start stalking Nona for an interview on what’s sure to be an epic book for our generation of eager feminist weirdos.
Other Fall Books To Look Out For:
September:
Lawrence Hill Books: Sexism in America: Alive, Well, and Ruining Our Future, by Barbara J. Berg, Ph.D. September 1st, 2009.
Penguin:The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed, by Judy Shepard. September 3rd, 2009
Clies Press: In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales
Simon and Schuster: Hungry: A Young Model’s Story of Appetite, Ambition and the Ultimate Embrace of Curves
Penguin Classics: The Yellow Wall-Paper, Herland, and Selected Writings, by Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Author), Denise D. Knight (Editor, Contributor). New edition & packaging & editing of the classic feminist writer’s work. September 29th 2009.
October:
W.W. Norton: The Book of Genesis Illustrated,
St. Martin’s Press: Cassette From My Ex: Stories and Soundtracks of Lost Loves, edited by Jason Bitner. October 27, 2009.
November:
Audiobook! Parker Posey reading Betty Friedan’s The Feminine Mystique. Must-hear! November 15, 2009.
NYU Press: Girl Zines: Making Media, Doing Feminism, by Alison Piepmeier (Introduction by Andi Zeisler). November 19, 2009.
From Indie ‘zine & book publisher Microcosm, out now:
What We Leave Behind, by Derick Jensen, is a piercing, impassioned guide to living a truly responsible life on earth.
The Rainbow Connection: Richard Hunt: Gay Muppeteer by Jessica Max Stien: A heap of information about the life of Richard Hunt, a Muppet puppeteer who worked on Sesame Street, Fraggle Rock, and a myriad of other Henson projects.
My Brain Hurts #2: Liz Baillie crafts a Degrassi-style teenage soap opera about queer punks in New York City!
Calls for Submissions
Deadline Nov 1
“Hello friends, I am putting out a call for writing, art, comics, photographs, on the practical and philosophical aspects of gender, sexuality, bodies, and queerness. Personal experiences (good, bad, and other), philosophies, rants, funny stories, observations, interviews, dreams of the future. Ultimately, I want to put a zine out that is a positive fuck yeah for queerness, transgenderisms, bodies, sexualityies, and ultra wave inclusive feminism. A recognition that all oppressions are interconnected, and the time is now to share our stories and deconstruct the dead ends.”
SheDate.com Coming Out Stories
Deadline September 30
SHEGROUP is a company made entirely up of members from the lesbian community. They are all passionate about who they are, what they stand for, and how they can contribute to the acceptance of the community. In an attempt to bring the lesbian community closer together, their first initiative is in launching an all lesbian dating site, SheDate, which asks you to share your coming out story to win $1,200 in SheAvenue prizes!
Because I actually read Shoplifting from American Apparel by Tao Lin I thought I could put it on its own page, like a real book review. Then, all alone on its own page, it took over the page. I am excited for the Autostraddle redesign when we can have more little things all over. That’s NEXT! –>
Pages: 1 2 3See entire article on one page
I devoured Kathy G’s book in 2 days and it is hands totes down the most entertaining celeb memoir I’ve read (and I own Out of Sync and both of Rosie’s books).
greatest book review i’ve ever read.
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i’d also like to point out that we may or may not have been stoned while coming up with the lady gaga theory and therefore your therapist may or may not be right.
I really want to read the AS Lady Gaga story. Like now.
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Also… My Invented Life, Shoplifting From American Apparel, and Girls’ Studies are at the top of my list for reading this fall. You guys have an awesome track record for book recommendations (I still feel indebted to Riese for introducing me to Stephen Dunn).
there’s going to have to be a wait for the lady gaga story. but oh my gaga, it is worth it.
ahem.
i never said it was going to be on autostraddle! it could just surface somewhere. or it could just HAPPEN.
i think selling the story to the national enquirer should be part of the business plan.
That would do wonders for Autostraddle’s credibility.
Dawn, thank you.
i feel the same way re: stephen dunn, dawn. i accidentally typed “damn” first. probably because i feel that passionately about him.
+++
i want to read so many of these books!
+++
i am apparently v. illiterate today because i thought riese said she needed a “wordbook” instead of a “workbook.” but now i really like the idea of having my own little dictionary of words to use in the future.
‘everyone should read shoplifting from american apparel, it’s short and tasty like a snack!’
Do you include people over 40? Do you honestly think anyone over 40, or maybe 35, or maybe even 30, who is an adult should read this book?
Can you imagine anyone 40 or over like it?
I mean, there are young writers people of any age can read. Tao Lin isn’t one of them, is he? Would anyone you know over a certain age actually appreciate Lin? Why? You’ve based your liking your book on your own situation being like the author’s. What about people who are totally unlike him?
I think if you read the rest of the review, you’d understand that statement in context as facetious. For starters, I compare it to a snack, and books are clearly not snacks. For finishers, the rest of the review points out that I don’t know who will be into it.
wait are these real questions or are they rhetorical questions? it seems rhetorical
’cause you sound upset at me, but if you are actually asking them, i can try and answer, though I think it’s always dangerous to divide people into different mentalities by age.
My GF got me Kathy Griffin’s book for my birthday. It came over the weekend. I haven’t started it yet because it has been implied that I must finish reading the library books I’ve had for weeks BEFORE reading any new books or else my relationship will suffer. But I did sneak a peek at the first page. I LOL’d at the first sentence!
—
Two observations from the book review:
1) It’s a good thing Brooke is COO and
2) You’re really good at book reviews. Don’t compare yours to other book reviews. They’re boring…you’re not.
AHhhh I wanna read ’em all! I feel so Sylvia Plath: “I can never read all the books I want; I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones and variations of mental and physical experience possible in life. And I am horribly limited.”
what book is that from, I haven’t read it and probably should.
damn, you guys. i really liked this article.
this is a great book for all ages
its small so children can easily hold it as they read
its short so old people can finish it before they die
almost old people can finish it and then read it again before they die
Thanks for the Girldrive shoutout. I know I’m superlate on this, but can you please correct my name? It’s “Nona Willis Aronowitz” not “Norma Willis-Arnowitz.” I’d really appreciate it, thanks!
sorry about that! i’ve corrected your name throughout the article.
Has anyone heard of Stieg Larsson’s Millennium Trilogy -The girl with the dragon tattoo, The girl who played with fire, and the latest one is coming out in the states 2 years later than the rest of the world, in October 31st, The girl who kicked the hornets nest.
I started reading the first book in when I left Sydney, and finished it 15 hours later in Java, my eyes hated me for it, but I could not put it down.
The heroine, Lisbeth Salander is possibly the hottest, most bad ass-est, girl in the history of girls who likes girls.
Anyways …. jsyk.