A review by tracithomas
How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom by Johanna Hedva

challenging dark emotional funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Johanna Hedva is a literary force. Their thinking and writing is exactly what I hope to read every single time I open any collection of cultural criticism. They are smart, funny, bold, surprising, and observe the world in ways that would never occur to me (they essay in this book on wrestling is the perfect example). I had so many “ah-ha” moments about ableism while reading this book, but more than that I had so many “ah-ha” moments about what care is and can be. This is a book about possibility. It is also a book about kink and cocks and art and hags. It is a text that I am so happy to have read and I know I will continue to reckon with it and Hedva’s words for a long time to come.