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mattleesharp's review against another edition
3.0
It's a retread of a book. Very illuminating and well written if you haven't encountered the ideas before, but probably not worth seeking out if you're already familiar enough with Solnit to know this book exists.
jwinchell's review against another edition
3.0
I stopped reading this book because I no longer wanted to read essays about feminism in 2014. I'm sure there is a lot that is relevant to the sexism and misogyny we still experience at the tail end of 2017, but I lost my oomph with this Solnit.
liketheday's review against another edition
3.0
As I thought after listening to [b:Men Explain Things to Me|18528190|Men Explain Things to Me|Rebecca Solnit|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1393447237l/18528190._SX50_.jpg|26233826], Solnit's essays are much better for eyes-reading. I felt more immersed in her writing and her language and I could stop and go back very easily when a sentence got weird.
The essays in this book are mostly short and sweet and about feminism and what tools the Majority (the patriarchy, white people, people who don't want to listen to the plight of others) use to silence others. There is one big slog of an essay about silencing that begins this collection and it was tough going, but once I got through it the rest of the essays were a welcome relief. Some of them feel just a touch dated as this was published after #yesallwomen but just before #metoo and it feels like the essays are missing that extra touch of context, which of course they couldn't have had.
I'm definitely interested enough after reading this to check out the book that comes between Men Explain Things to Me and this one, and also some of the books Solnit wrote that she mentions in the various essays. Good self-promotion!
The essays in this book are mostly short and sweet and about feminism and what tools the Majority (the patriarchy, white people, people who don't want to listen to the plight of others) use to silence others. There is one big slog of an essay about silencing that begins this collection and it was tough going, but once I got through it the rest of the essays were a welcome relief. Some of them feel just a touch dated as this was published after #yesallwomen but just before #metoo and it feels like the essays are missing that extra touch of context, which of course they couldn't have had.
I'm definitely interested enough after reading this to check out the book that comes between Men Explain Things to Me and this one, and also some of the books Solnit wrote that she mentions in the various essays. Good self-promotion!
hedgefundhogmanager's review against another edition
4.0
Solid collection of essays, particularly useful for thinking about language and power.
cassandra67b07's review against another edition
4.0
A hard book to read in the current climate, but devastating in its clarity. The summation of all the ways women are silenced and also silence themselves is the truest thing I've read this year. Recommended!
meghan111's review against another edition
3.0
ebook ARC from Edelweiss - expected publication date March 2017.
olicooper's review against another edition
4.0
Collection of essays on topics ranging from the ideas about motherhood, silencing, rape jokes, Lolita, and Gamergate. The book was originally published in 2017, and already has dated itself with the celebrity name drops-- for example, Louis C.K. is noted for being a feminist comedian, and we all know what an actual sack of garbage he is. Though, with the advantage of hindsight, it does make some of her essays interesting to read.
glindaaa's review against another edition
4.0
Currently reading, researching and so on about gender stereotypes for my thesis. I sort of wanted a break from reading all that and "accidentally" picked The Mother of All Questions. Which is definitely not a mistake and was a delightful and yet heartbreaking read. It makes me wonder all the time why people don't see it and such. Funny how she simply wrote that if you did not understand this to be a problem, you are stupid. Plain, blunt, direct, necessary.
It was a great read, I learned a bit more here and there as well as, acknowledged some more things. I think every country is different but there are definitely the same situations and thus things I could understand and yet things I could now learn from another perspective.