A review by pyrrhicspondee
No Regrets: Three Discussions by Amanda Katz, Dawn Lundy Martin, Elizabeth Gumport, Carla Blumenkranz, Namara Smith, Kristin Dombek, Sarah Resnick, Dayna Tortorici, Emily Witt, Sara Marcus, n+1, Elif Batuman, Astra Taylor, Emily Gould

4.0

I really enjoyed reading this. I started to read "What We Should Have Known," and found it almost impossible to care about a roundtable of dudes gushing about Henry Miller. So I switched to this and was much relieved. Lots of helpful ways of thinking about reading and the purpose of reading in here, especially for me as a teacher. Dawn Lundy Martin, in the first discussion, talked about her memories of reading To Kill a Mockingbird and being the only black person in the classroom--but not having the necessary language or tools to analyze what exactly was making her uncomfortable and then voice that discomfort. And I thought, YES. That is a very important reason to read: to give yourself the tools to understand the world around you and put them to voice. Also helpful was the discussion of the "secret canon," and how every social circle (or presumably university) has its own subset of canonical texts that act as a shibboleth for entry.

The last discussion was the least satisfying, given how the best advice they all got was to turn down jobs and not do things they didn't love. That advice--though it may have been good for the women discussing it--would be disastrous for most people. That advice clearly comes from a place of privilege: an Ivy League education, parents who have the means to be a backup support system, the sure knowledge that you DO have the human capital to be hirable because you are already white and middle or upper class.

Also, how have I not read Judith Butler yet?