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A review by mundanesounds
Things Are Against Us by Lucy Ellmann
4.0
‘Things Are Against Us’ is the debut collection of essays from Lucy Ellmann and the writer’s first book since her one-sentence opus ‘Ducks, Newburyport.’
Ellmann covers a lot of ground in this relatively short collection that discusses topics such as labour strikes, environmental crises and even a rumination on ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Often using feminist frameworks, Ellmann’s arguments are sharp, timely, and at times, very funny.
The modernist-inspired formalism of her fiction work is also on display here, exemplified in the collection’s standout essay ‘Three Strikes,’ in which Ellmann uses Footnotes as a metaphor for misogynistic oppression: “Footnotes are the outsiders within a text, and make obliging underdogs in an essay on female subordination.”
While Ellmann makes very salient critiques on the systems that oppress the majority, at times she attacks the symptoms of these structures rather than their roots. This is most apparent when she is discussing YouTubers and people who read popular fiction. Moments such as these seem misjudged at best and outwardly elitist at worst. However, these are blips in what is otherwise a very sophisticated assortment of essays.
Ellmann covers a lot of ground in this relatively short collection that discusses topics such as labour strikes, environmental crises and even a rumination on ‘Little House on the Prairie.’ Often using feminist frameworks, Ellmann’s arguments are sharp, timely, and at times, very funny.
The modernist-inspired formalism of her fiction work is also on display here, exemplified in the collection’s standout essay ‘Three Strikes,’ in which Ellmann uses Footnotes as a metaphor for misogynistic oppression: “Footnotes are the outsiders within a text, and make obliging underdogs in an essay on female subordination.”
While Ellmann makes very salient critiques on the systems that oppress the majority, at times she attacks the symptoms of these structures rather than their roots. This is most apparent when she is discussing YouTubers and people who read popular fiction. Moments such as these seem misjudged at best and outwardly elitist at worst. However, these are blips in what is otherwise a very sophisticated assortment of essays.