3.12k reviews for:

Sister Outsider - Essais et propos sur la poésie, l'érotisme, le racisme, le sexisme...

Audre Lorde

4.59 AVERAGE

itsjustjane's review against another edition

2.5

challenging medium-paced

randomscrabble's review against another edition

5.0

informative reflective

isobelflindall's review against another edition

5.0

reflective medium-paced

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i'd read some of these essays before, but never the full collection. particularly interesting to read/reread with the knowledge that Lorde was a librarian for a while, and with an eye out for how some of her thinking might be applicable to and/or stem from those experiences

kaidavis65's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative reflective

terriw5's review against another edition

1.0

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Okay, I'll just say it: I didn't like this book. It was clever. And well written. But I didn't enjoy reading it. I gained some new insights along the way but ultimately the payoff wasn't worth it.

Also, for a book that's supposed to be a collection of essays, it was highly repetitive. Whew!

elke_de_echte's review against another edition

4.0

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Sister Outsider (1984) covers the load of this collection of essential prose (essays, speeches, letters, interviews) by American writer, professor, philosopher, intersectional feminist, poet, and civil rights activist Audre Lorde (1934 - 1992) or as she self-described herself: ‘Black, lesbian, feminist, socialist, mother, warrior, poet’. If this is not enough of an outsider perspective? And still… the magic of her revolutionary writing resides in pulling one in, making one feel accountable and empowered. Lorde was foundational to intersectionality as in intersecting different oppressions (and thus fiercely opposing any hierarchy thereof). Though anger prevails every line of thought, she succeeds in conveying encouragement to come to a common understanding and act upon it. Phenomenally intelligent, as she sees through our world of systemic injustice… and senses a way out.

_praxis's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

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This is my first introduction to Audre Lorde and wowee I wish I had read her work sooner. I would consider this required reading for everyone. This book is a collection of essays spanning many different topics, some entries I definitely liked more than others but every entry left me with something. Although the book is pretty short, I found it took be more time than I expect to finish it since I was constantly stopping to write quotes or sit with a passage as I considered how her sentiments still resonate today.

It's honestly such a wealth of philosophical and inspiring thinking that I'm inclined to make it a point to reread it once a year. 

lenamacarena's review against another edition

4.5

challenging inspiring reflective slow-paced

jex19's review against another edition

4.0

hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

thefantasynerd93's review against another edition

3.5

dark informative slow-paced

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Notes from a Trip to Russia 3/10
Poetry Is Not a Luxury 5/10
The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action 9/10
Scratching the Surface: Some Notes on Barriers to Women and Loving 7/10
Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power 4/10
Sexism: An American Disease in Blackface 7/10
An Open Letter to Mary Daly 6/10
Man Child: A Black Lesbian Feminist's Response 8/10
An Interview: Audre Lorde and Adrienne Rich 9/10
The Master's Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master's House 7/10
Age, Race, Class, and Sex: Women Redefining Difference 8/10
*The Uses of Anger: Women Responding to Racism 9/10
*Learning from the 60s 8/10
*Eye to Eye: Black Women, Hatred, and Anger 7/10
*Grenada Revisited: An Interim Report 6/10

Rating: 3.44/5