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A review by a_novel_femme
Epistemology of the Closet by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick
4.0
sedgwicks seminal text which really helps usher in queer theory (alongside judy b. and david halberstam) is perhaps most useful and deserving of at least 3/5 stars by virtue of her introduction alone, where she writes of the various axiomatics that she feels are imperative to queer theory. she points out, among other things, that the study of gender is not the same as the study of sex (or sexuality), that if there is to be a binary set up, it should be between sex and sexuality, and not sex and gander, that the notion of a completely biological explanation for sexuality is problematic if comforting, and a variety of other points that i am now blanking on, seeing as how im running on three hours of sleep and one-and-a-half beers.
the rest of her chapters are written in true sedgwick style, where her prose is so effusive and beautiful yet seems to lose track of the subject time and again. her analysis of henry james is particularly well done (although this is perhaps because i really like james as an author). this is what bumps it up to 4/5 stars for me -- there is something about sedgwicks prose that is luminous and completely frustrating at the same time, which lends itself to a peculiarly rewarding experience.
the rest of her chapters are written in true sedgwick style, where her prose is so effusive and beautiful yet seems to lose track of the subject time and again. her analysis of henry james is particularly well done (although this is perhaps because i really like james as an author). this is what bumps it up to 4/5 stars for me -- there is something about sedgwicks prose that is luminous and completely frustrating at the same time, which lends itself to a peculiarly rewarding experience.