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almartin's review
5.0
It feels wrong to be the first review on this, so let me simply say that I have this thing dog-eared within an inch of its life. "Secret Canon", "Wrong Science" and "Advice" especially.
oh, and:
oh, and:
DAYNA TORTORICI: What would Jack London do? Christ. You'd be dead.
toad_maiden's review
3.0
Women writers and intellectuals talking about the books they read in their youth that informed who they are. Great conversation, but it will make you feel like you wasted your twenties reading trash. Most of these women were reading Joyce and Judith Butler in high school.
whats_margaret_reading's review
4.0
The companion and follow up to [b:n+1; What We Should Have Known: Two Discussions|2306435|n+1; What We Should Have Known Two Discussions (Research Branch Pamphlet No.2)|Andrew S. Jacobs|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1202760393s/2306435.jpg|2312849], it features many of the same elements from the previous set of interviews but all the interviewees (intentionally) are women. Just as fascinating as the previous volume.
mxballin's review
4.0
A really friendly and readable discussion of books (and other things) that made a difference, or would have made a difference for these women in their college years. As someone who is at the target age for this book, and just getting into (and loving) theory, reading this felt like hearing from the big sister I don't have, the dedicated and intellectual college advisor I haven't met.
pyrrhicspondee's review
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this. I started to read "What We Should Have Known," and found it almost impossible to care about a roundtable of dudes gushing about Henry Miller. So I switched to this and was much relieved. Lots of helpful ways of thinking about reading and the purpose of reading in here, especially for me as a teacher. Dawn Lundy Martin, in the first discussion, talked about her memories of reading To Kill a Mockingbird and being the only black person in the classroom--but not having the necessary language or tools to analyze what exactly was making her uncomfortable and then voice that discomfort. And I thought, YES. That is a very important reason to read: to give yourself the tools to understand the world around you and put them to voice. Also helpful was the discussion of the "secret canon," and how every social circle (or presumably university) has its own subset of canonical texts that act as a shibboleth for entry.
The last discussion was the least satisfying, given how the best advice they all got was to turn down jobs and not do things they didn't love. That advice--though it may have been good for the women discussing it--would be disastrous for most people. That advice clearly comes from a place of privilege: an Ivy League education, parents who have the means to be a backup support system, the sure knowledge that you DO have the human capital to be hirable because you are already white and middle or upper class.
Also, how have I not read Judith Butler yet?
The last discussion was the least satisfying, given how the best advice they all got was to turn down jobs and not do things they didn't love. That advice--though it may have been good for the women discussing it--would be disastrous for most people. That advice clearly comes from a place of privilege: an Ivy League education, parents who have the means to be a backup support system, the sure knowledge that you DO have the human capital to be hirable because you are already white and middle or upper class.
Also, how have I not read Judith Butler yet?
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