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![[By Roxane Gay] Hunger: A Memoir of by Roxane Gay](https://assets.thestorygraph.com/assets/placeholder-cover-a3ae92250eb3301e32dc3eabf8d50576c2f047dda89f6ee7cfa9a859cb1fd746.jpg)
4.3 AVERAGE
4.3 AVERAGE
It was too triggering. The act of violence was too triggering for me to continue on. Gay is a wonderful writer though.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Eating disorder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder, Mental illness, Sexual assault
Hm, hard to put down exactly how I feel about this book. On the one hand, I really do marvel at the incredible vulnerability that Gay shows in writing this memoir and I think it must have been very impactful and also incredibly emotional for her to work through all of this, put it into words and then put it into the world. So then to rate it 3 stars seems somewhat cruel, so it should be clear that the review is not to say that what she did with this book was not good and was not worthwhile.
It is just that for me, I think the structure of the book wasn't really that good. I think the way it was a bunch of little essays that then jumped around in time, often circling back and repeating things didn't really work for me. It felt like there was so much overlap and so much returning to the same things where at a point sometimes I thought I was accidentally in a previous part of the book because the wording and phrases would be so similar. So, that didn't work so well for me as a book.
The memoir is also written in very plain language, I would say. Quite direct. And I guess for me I tend to appreciate writing that is maybe a bit more poetic/emotive/philosophical. This just felt like a lot of straightforward recounting. Though as mentioned not always forward, ahah due to all the bouncing around in time.
Despite all this, again, I think it is important to hear stories like this and to time and time again be reminded of all of the complicated ways that trauma effects people's lives AND all of the complicated ways that people relate to their own bodies and I think this book was a good example of both those things.
It is just that for me, I think the structure of the book wasn't really that good. I think the way it was a bunch of little essays that then jumped around in time, often circling back and repeating things didn't really work for me. It felt like there was so much overlap and so much returning to the same things where at a point sometimes I thought I was accidentally in a previous part of the book because the wording and phrases would be so similar. So, that didn't work so well for me as a book.
The memoir is also written in very plain language, I would say. Quite direct. And I guess for me I tend to appreciate writing that is maybe a bit more poetic/emotive/philosophical. This just felt like a lot of straightforward recounting. Though as mentioned not always forward, ahah due to all the bouncing around in time.
Despite all this, again, I think it is important to hear stories like this and to time and time again be reminded of all of the complicated ways that trauma effects people's lives AND all of the complicated ways that people relate to their own bodies and I think this book was a good example of both those things.
emotional
reflective
sad
Incredibly honest and vulnerable in her humanity. Her writing is beautiful and poignant. So impactful.
I know what it means to hunger without being hungry. My father believes hunger is in the mind. I know differently. I know that hunger is in the mind and the body and the heart and the soul.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
I feel so blessed to be living at the same time as Roxane Gay. She will never know it but she has inspired me in countless, unnamable ways.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced