Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
This is a starkly honest and intensely personal memoir from someone I consider to be one of the foremost thinkers of my generation. It is at once beautiful and painful.
Listened to this. Read by the author. I always enjoy listening to a memoir read by the author most. This book was almost poetic. I really loved her repetitive style. I found what she had to say interesting, informative and infuriating.
i cannot imagine how difficult this book was to write. such a vulnerable, honest, informative memoir and i’m glad i read it and learned from it. it’s hard to criticize a work that is so personal but it just felt like it skipped around a lot and was sometimes just a bunch of different thoughts wrote down with no followable narrative with a lot of repetition
reflective
medium-paced
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Most readers who have heard of Roxane Gay know about her through her book Bad Feminist, in which she discusses the intersecting and sometimes contradictory aspects of being a feminist (or Feminist with a capital "F," as she would say) in a series of short essays. Gay's self-scrutiny does not let up for her memoir Hunger, which is written from a place of intense pain and heartbreak. As Gay herself writes, not everyone is at a point of recovery or acceptance in their lives - whether that be regarding one's body image, childhood trauma, career, relationship status, or any other aspect of one's life and identity. This book is a testament to this painful truth that must be told. Roxane Gay was gang-raped at the age of 12, a horrifying and traumatic event that altered her perception of herself and her body in tangible and intangible ways for decades. I give this book three stars because while I think it's important to listen to the voices of writers like Gay - who identifies as a victim and not a survivor, and as someone who isn't at a stage of acceptance of her body yet - I can't say I enjoyed reading this book because of the pain and sadness I felt through it.
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship
Moderate: Biphobia
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Hooooollly this was amazing. An incredible book and an incredible audiobook. Gay's voice is gorgeous and throaty and perfectly inflects both the humor and deep wanting of this memoir.