Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography by Audre Lorde

21 reviews

jessmbark's review

emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

Though it was a slow start, this memoir has something for everyone and should serve as an inspiration for anyone who wants to write their own.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Sexism, Animal death, Homophobia, Suicide attempt, Racism, and Abortion

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Fatphobia, Grief, Addiction, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal death, Xenophobia, Antisemitism, Violence, and Blood

dominic_t's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

"Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me..."

This is an amazing book that transcends the memoir genre. Lorde calls it a biomythography, and that really fits. She centers her analysis of her life on her relationships with women and explores how each woman shaped her. Her writing is so vivid and provides a window into what life was like for gay-girls (her term) in the northeast US in the 40s and 50s. 

She wrote so beautifully about each relationship and really captured the experiences of infatuation, love, and heartbreak. I viscerally felt the highs and laws.

I also loved reading about the community of gay women she belonged to. It was a fascinating window into the past. She went into a lot of detail about her experience as a Black woman in a majority white community and explored the complexity of her friendships and relationships with white women. She also talked about her struggles to fit into the community as a woman who wasn't either butch or femme. I've read the perspectives of butches and femmes from communities like hers, and it was cool to get the perspective of someone who didn't fit in either role.

The progressive communities of that time were really homophobic and saw queerness as "bourgeoisie." In response to that, she wrote, "I didn’t know how I was going to bring my personal and political visions together, but I knew it had to be possible because I felt them both too strongly, and knew how much I needed them both to survive...Any world which did not have a place for me loving women was not a world in which I wanted to live, nor one which I could fight for." That quote deeply resonates with me. I can feel both her pain and her hope.

This is not an easy read. She covers abuse, bigotry, and suicide in detail. Even though the book was filled with tragedy, I ended the book feeling hopeful. Throughout everything, she had a vision of a better world, and I was able to see it too.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Racism, and Rape

Moderate: Cancer

Minor: Racial slurs

savvylit's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

Zami offers a captivating look at several unique and specific settings. The first is Lorde's experience growing up in Harlem as the child of strict immigrants during the 1940s. The second is a foray into an enclave of expats who fled the U.S. during the McCarthy/Red Scare era. The third is the lesbian social scene in New York City in the 1950s. All three of those settings and perspectives are endlessly fascinating on their own. But told in Lorde's characteristic sharp and lyrical voice, they are made even more engrossing.

In this memoir, Audre Lorde doesn't hold back. Rather, she shares all the details - good and bad. Lorde frankly discusses traumatic physical events sexual assaults and a brutal illegal abortion. She also beautifully and achingly describes the emotional aspects of her life: her difficult relationship with her mother, the loss of a close childhood friend, and, later, the crumbling of her first long-term relationship.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the early development of Audre Lorde's brilliant mind. After reading Zami, it became clear to me how Lorde's trifold outsider status (Black, lesbian, leftist) shaped her life and her writing. I am now very eagerly anticipating reading her essay collection, Sister Outsider, at some point in the near future!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Xenophobia, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Racism, Suicide, Lesbophobia, and Toxic relationship

reading_mermaid's review

emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Abortion, Child abuse, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racism and Sexual content

Minor: Death of parent, Child death, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Alcoholism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Incest

planetsaturns's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Abortion, and Homophobia

Moderate: Alcoholism

Minor: Animal death and Sexual assault

quirkilybookish's review

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion

Moderate: Self harm, Violence, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Suicide, and Racism

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, Alcoholism, and Infidelity

waytoomanybooks's review

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

3.5

I’m so grateful that I was assigned this book in my Contemporary Queer Literature class. I have been meaning to read the works of Audre Lorde for a while, and I’m so glad I finally read Zami. It contains some of the most beautiful, thoughtful, challenging, descriptive prose I’ve ever read. It’s both deeply personal and deeply relatable in many aspects. Lorde leaves no stone unturned as she looks back at her life in the 30s, 40s, and 50s. We learn lessons right alongside her, and she is an excellent teacher and storyteller. This is an absolute must-read for anyone who wants to know more about queer history, Black history, feminism, and so much more. Her deep-dives into intersectionality are invaluable. You won’t be able to put this book down.

Please heed all the many, many content warnings I and others have tagged. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Body shaming, Lesbophobia, Abortion, Death, Fatphobia, Bullying, Classism, Infidelity, Grief, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Ableism, Animal death, Child death, Homophobia, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Self harm, Medical trauma, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Suicide attempt

earthbound_edits's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Racism, Homophobia, Suicide, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, Abortion, and Grief

lynnloveshobi's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Classism, Grief, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Homophobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Addiction

mmirjamm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Rape

Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny