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tricapra's review
5.0
Simply put, the best biography I have ever read. ABS was such a complex, beautiful, tortured woman and her life makes me want to live better. Do more. She was so influential and she's so little-known in modern fiction circles. Phillips put everything together so beautifully, and didn't hide the ugly bits.
I'd recommend this heartily to anyone who cares about genre fiction, gender/identity, feminism. If you haven't read Tiptree you'll want to after you finish this book.
I'd recommend this heartily to anyone who cares about genre fiction, gender/identity, feminism. If you haven't read Tiptree you'll want to after you finish this book.
omgbiscoffspread's review
4.0
I couldn't actually finish this book, because I know how Sheldon's life ended and it was causing me anxiety the closer we got to the end. For those who need one, the book could use a content warning for suicide.
The biography is so well written. Phillips manages the difficult feat of being true to Sheldon's life and achievements without a fawning tone or being critical when describing her flaws. Highly recommend if you want to read about an extraordinary person's extraordinary life.
The biography is so well written. Phillips manages the difficult feat of being true to Sheldon's life and achievements without a fawning tone or being critical when describing her flaws. Highly recommend if you want to read about an extraordinary person's extraordinary life.
patfield's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
5.0
megatsunami's review
5.0
"Certainly my inner world will never be a peaceful place of bloom; it will have some peace, and occasional riots of bloom, but always a little fight going on too. There is no way I can be peacefully happy in this society and in this skin. I am committed to Uneasy Street. I like it; it is my idea that this street leads to the future, and that I am being true to a way of life which is not here yet, but is more real than what is here." - Alice Sheldon (James Tiptree Jr.)
raven_morgan's review against another edition
5.0
Sheldon/Tiptree was a fascinating woman, both in her personal life and her career. This biography is equally fascinating. I spent much of the time wondering how Sheldon would have approached sf and her mental health nowadays, and wondering what she would think of the field (and the award named after her as Tiptree) as it stand right now.
lindy_b's review
4.0
Julie Phillips has managed to write a biography consisting of 400 pages of single spaced, dense text and I did not feel as if it dragged. That in and of itself is a tremendous achievement. In particular, the portions that went into Tiptree's correspondences with [a:Joanna Russ|52310|Joanna Russ|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1423801257p2/52310.jpg] and [a:Ursula K. Le Guin|874602|Ursula K. Le Guin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1244291425p2/874602.jpg] are absolute gold.
However, there are several aspects to Sheldon's life that Phillips seems to glance over, and I suspect she does so because she finds them uncomfortable or she doesn't trust herself to handle them well, which is unfortunate as they, in my reading anyway, deeply informed Tiptree/Sheldon's writing. These include Sheldon's experiences of sexual abuse/assault, imperialism's ghosts, and Sheldon's codependent relationships with her husband and her mother.
However, there are several aspects to Sheldon's life that Phillips seems to glance over, and I suspect she does so because she finds them uncomfortable or she doesn't trust herself to handle them well, which is unfortunate as they, in my reading anyway, deeply informed Tiptree/Sheldon's writing. These include Sheldon's experiences of sexual abuse/assault, imperialism's ghosts, and Sheldon's codependent relationships with her husband and her mother.
bunnieslikediamonds's review
5.0
A few things come to mind after reading this. One: good lord, what a dull life I've had. Two: I think I have a crush on a dead female author's male alter ego. Three: suck on it Robert Silverberg for your stupid gender bias! Boy, did you feel silly after 1976. Four: I'm thinking of changing my name to Raccoona.
You may feel differently, but should read the book anyway. Sheldon was awesome.
You may feel differently, but should read the book anyway. Sheldon was awesome.
fonteya's review against another edition
4.0
Una biografía muy interesante sobre la vida de una figura tan ecléctica y a la vez controvertida como fue Alice B. Sheldon. Me han parecido de especial relevancia los capítulos referentes al mundillo del fandom y a las correspondencias entre ella, Le Guin y Russ.
haljonesy's review
5.0
This incredibly well-researched biography introduces you to Tip and Alli, a beautiful human who lived an incomparable life. I loved this book, and I loved getting to know Tip/Alli.
I do think it might be necessary to include a trigger warning, as there are quite a lot of Tip/Alli quotes about suicide.
I do think it might be necessary to include a trigger warning, as there are quite a lot of Tip/Alli quotes about suicide.