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moominess's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
This is the book I've yearned and yearned for, my god. Poetic, witty, reflective and utterly captivating. This is the book that I was heartbroken to turn the final page of—I could read Audre Lorde's words for the rest of my lifeeeee
fluoresensitive's review
medium-paced
4.0
Still impactful as I first remembered it, though weirdly shorter than I remember it being? It's strange how time changes the shape of a book in your mind.
elisecatriona's review against another edition
4.5
reading this book has changed me irrevocably and wholly
kassiegee's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most important books I’ve ever read. Being a Black queer woman raised in a West Indian household, I found myself nodding at nearly every page. Audre Lorde was truly a gift to the literary world and I feel so honored to be reading her words decades later.
One of my favorite quotes: “In a paradoxical sense, once I accepted my position as different from the larger society as well as from any single sub-society - Black or gay - I felt I didn't have to try so hard. To be accepted. To look femme. To be straight. To look straight. To be proper. To look "nice.” To be liked. To be loved. To be approved. What I didn't realize was how much harder I had to try merely to stay alive, or rather, to stay human. How much stronger a person I became in that trying.” ...Omg what a WORD.
It’s also wild how much has (and has not) changed in gay culture since the 50s! Reading Zami just made me want to read absolutely everything from her ever. What a gift.
One of my favorite quotes: “In a paradoxical sense, once I accepted my position as different from the larger society as well as from any single sub-society - Black or gay - I felt I didn't have to try so hard. To be accepted. To look femme. To be straight. To look straight. To be proper. To look "nice.” To be liked. To be loved. To be approved. What I didn't realize was how much harder I had to try merely to stay alive, or rather, to stay human. How much stronger a person I became in that trying.” ...Omg what a WORD.
It’s also wild how much has (and has not) changed in gay culture since the 50s! Reading Zami just made me want to read absolutely everything from her ever. What a gift.
minah1012's review against another edition
5.0
“Every woman I have ever loved has left her print upon me, where I loved some invaluable piece of myself apart from meso different that I had to stretch and grow in order to recognize her. ”
zmorris1923's review against another edition
5.0
What can I say about this book that hasn't been said before? I felt myself slowly walking through the life of Audre Lorde, and through that walk seeing a life lived and lived well, alongside women as both friends and lovers. I appreciated the narrative voice Lorde kept. Her prose was masterful. I enjoyed this book slowly to start--quick batches of four to eight pages, during a break or while eating, and then, in a final wave of need, I found myself reading the find hundred pages in a day. I was in need, I was in love, with the words on her pages.
Her relationships, especially that with Muriel, made me think about myself a lot. I looked inward about how I feel, and the difficulties of that and the realities of it. I've read a lot about polyamory recently and have been wondering at it, for myself personally--the relationship with Muriel made me wonder about the difference between polyamory, open relationships, and lust alone which drives a monogamous relationship into the ground--communication seems to be an obvious key, consent, another--not only love. It's something I want to think on more, something to research.
I also appreciated Lorde's introspection about her Black and queer-ness; her insights were profound, and I found a lot of echoes from "How We Get Free", which she was mentioned in often. Her story here felt like a prequel in a way to her work on "Sister Outsider", though I don't know which was written first. It makes me want to reread the essay collection, and take it in with the context of her life.
Her relationships, especially that with Muriel, made me think about myself a lot. I looked inward about how I feel, and the difficulties of that and the realities of it. I've read a lot about polyamory recently and have been wondering at it, for myself personally--the relationship with Muriel made me wonder about the difference between polyamory, open relationships, and lust alone which drives a monogamous relationship into the ground--communication seems to be an obvious key, consent, another--not only love. It's something I want to think on more, something to research.
I also appreciated Lorde's introspection about her Black and queer-ness; her insights were profound, and I found a lot of echoes from "How We Get Free", which she was mentioned in often. Her story here felt like a prequel in a way to her work on "Sister Outsider", though I don't know which was written first. It makes me want to reread the essay collection, and take it in with the context of her life.
the_littlest_lion's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.0