Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

7 reviews

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.

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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

lynnloveshobi's review

dark emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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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

addyruth17's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

4.25

Such a fascinating life, and a delectable poetic voice.  I was writing down quotes and annotating like crazy.  A bit slow and perhaps unsettled in the timeline, but worth it for the insight into the Black lesbian 1940s/50s experience, and the gorgeous descriptions of loving women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Sexual content, and Suicide

Moderate: Death, Racism, Alcohol, Rape, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship

mmirjamm's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.25

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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

zombiezami's review

adventurous emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Animal death, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Classism, Blood, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Misogyny

Moderate: Bullying, Ableism, Drug use, Mental illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Infidelity, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization

Minor: Vomit, War, Trafficking, Cancer, and Slavery

Colorism

brnineworms's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Zami: A New Spelling of My Name is truly incredible. It’s beautifully written; raw, evocative, heartachingly sincere. Reading it, I felt like there was always something almost said – secrets just barely hidden behind a veil of metaphor, accessible only to those who know what to look for.
At times, the major themes of relationships, the self, and truth are explicitly highlighted, while at others they permeate the text almost – but not quite – unnoticed.

My only complaint (and even then it isn’t really a complaint) is that the book ends somewhat abruptly. I found myself yearning for a few more chapters. Still, I don’t think that’s enough to bring my rating down from its well-deserved five stars. If anything, it just goes to show how enthralling Lorde’s writing is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Blood, Abortion, Death, Self harm, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Alcohol, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Cancer, Murder, Fatphobia, Trafficking, Genocide, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, and Terminal illness

sorcha's review against another edition

emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content and Abortion

Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use