I am so devastated to be done with this book! It is the last novel I had left to read by Octavia Butler. I wish there were five more. It is as strong I am so devastated to be done with this book! It is the last novel I had left to read by Octavia Butler. I wish there were five more. It is as strong as anything that she has written. If you like this, you'll love the xenogenesis series. ...more
I think that ultimately what is so disappointing about this book is that while it's clear that Roxanne Gay is extremely well-read in both high and lowI think that ultimately what is so disappointing about this book is that while it's clear that Roxanne Gay is extremely well-read in both high and low culture, and while she is certainly very committed to the craft, the essays fall just short of brilliance. At times, I wanted to shout out loud that she continues to reinforce untrue or ridiculous stereotypes about feminism (hence the 'bad,' I suppose). I was struggling to figure out who her target audience is--I am nearly certain it is not me. I like her the best when she is nerding out over stories and cultural touch stones. She is profoundly likeable. But I found much of the cultural criticism to be lacking just a tiny piece of something I cannot name. ...more