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pattydsf's review against another edition
4.0
“Good loving can be fortuitous, partly a question of timing. A few years ago, emerging from a subterranean place – the lifting away of unhappiness – up, up, away! – a balloon released – I unfurled myself, out of a paralysis of thought, feeling, memory.”
It has been over three weeks since I finished this book. Every time I see it on my shelf, I question its existence. I am not sure why. It is so different from any book I remember reading. This is a book about sex written by a woman. Why does it continue to haunt me? I wasn’t bothered by the contents – I liked the contents. I like what Angel had to say about desire. However, I find that my review is, as the subtitle says, most difficult to tell.
At this point, I will say that Angel made me see myself, sexual desire, writing, personal memoirs and Virginia Woolf’s novels in a whole new light. I think I will have to read this again so that I can articulate what this essay did to me and for me.
It has been over three weeks since I finished this book. Every time I see it on my shelf, I question its existence. I am not sure why. It is so different from any book I remember reading. This is a book about sex written by a woman. Why does it continue to haunt me? I wasn’t bothered by the contents – I liked the contents. I like what Angel had to say about desire. However, I find that my review is, as the subtitle says, most difficult to tell.
At this point, I will say that Angel made me see myself, sexual desire, writing, personal memoirs and Virginia Woolf’s novels in a whole new light. I think I will have to read this again so that I can articulate what this essay did to me and for me.
kateoclaire's review against another edition
4.0
A bit pretentious, sure, but damn there are some lines I'll be thinking about for a long time. I think this is the type of book I'll reread a few times in my life, notes in the margins, taking something different and necessary away each time.
lifeinpoetry's review against another edition
4.0
This reminded me of Maggie Nelson's Bluets though I didn't love it quite as much. Interesting, personal, strange (with the foray into an abortion, the ensuing depression, the feminist politics of pornography). This was a quick experimental text on cishet female sexuality with quotes from Woolf, Sontag, etc. interspersed with the thoughts of the author on her relationship and on her own conflicting desires and how those desires interacted with her feminism.
andthyme's review against another edition
1.0
I didn't think you could write a book this boring about sex but boy was I wrong
lightsleeperstudio's review against another edition
3.0
Apparently I am on a Katherine Angel hype! This book was gifted to me by a friend after she saw I was reading Tomorrow Sex Will Be Good Again, and found Angel’s debut book for my birthday present. I was expecting it to be similar to her second book, and although themes were comparable, I couldn’t have been more wrong in terms of style. Unmastered flitters between freeform prose, political statements, memoir, poetry. It was a bit disorientating to begin with, especially as there are sometimes only four words on a page - I couldn’t help but think what a waste of paper. But as I sunk into it and understood the form, I enjoyed it more and more. She writes so passionately, I can feel her fire. It is erotic, political and vulnerable, I can see how her exploration of subject in this book stemmed into TSWBGA. The book is a quick read, I finished it in 3 days, but I feel you may be able to in one sitting if you love poetic prose.
anyastasi's review against another edition
5.0
Disjointed, poetic, the wide open space of the pages, this book explores femininity, masculinity, feminism, sexuality, life, literature, desire, pornography, politics with just a few lines on a page. Inspiring and informative by way of an intimate glimpse into the private mind of the author, it captures years of intimacy in a flash and leaves a great deal open to interpretation.