What I'm Reading: 'The Empathy Exams' by Leslie Jamison

The Empathy Exams made a big splash in 2014, appearing on many of the different "Best of" lists for non-fiction and essays. It didn't really catch my attention until I started noticing this pattern; up to that point I had thought it was something in the self-help/New Age genre, based solely on the title. 

I'm very glad I read it in the end, because it was not even remotely what I expected, even after I saw all the critical attention it was receiving. Mary Karr's blurb on the front cover threw me off a bit as well..."This riveting book will make you a better human." I know it's coming from Mary Karr, but come on. But don't let any of that hold you back; title and blurbs aside, it's a really well-crafted book of essays that I enjoyed as much as any other nonfiction I read this year, and I would put it up with Eula Biss' On Immunity and Rebecca Solnit's Men Explain Things to Me as examples of incredibly strong essay-writing from young women. I read an article on a kind of Golden Age of woman essayists, and as much as I hate that kind of generalization. I did read a lot of excellent essays by women this year, The Empathy Exams chief among them. Jamison's topics range as widely as the West Memphis Three and Ultramarathoners, but her voice is so pervasive and effective that she somehow manages to pull it all together in a way that feels earned and never convenient. She also pays thoughtful homage to her predecessors like Susan Sontag and Joan Didion, which I never tire of seeing in essays.

Perhaps the most exciting part of discovering new women essayists this past year is that so many of them have plenty of older books/pieces that I can't wait to read now.

What I'm Reading: 'Mary Queen of Scots' by Antonia Fraser

My obsession with the CW tv show 'Reign' knows no bounds, apparently, because during the Christmas hiatus I decided to make up for the lack of teenaged Mary Stuart in my life by reading an 800 page biography of her. For those who feel they are too good for the CW --first of all, you are wrong; their programming has never been better -- 'Reign' is a sexy period drama about the young adulthood of Mary Stuart, a bit like 'The O.C.' mixed with 'The Tudors.' All of the costumes are adapted Free People items, so that should give you a pretty good flavor of it.

Needless to say, it shares very, very little in common with this tremendously great biography by Antonia Fraser, whose talents I have already espoused. I have been disappointed but not exactly surprised by how historically inaccurate the tv show has turned out to be, but that doesn't mean I'm not enjoying the book immensely. Sometimes nothing quite satisfies like a long, meaty biography, and I've read enough Antonia Fraser at this point to feel almost like I'm slipping into a very elaborate fictional universe of her creation. She has written about this period in British history pretty extensively, so each new volume I consume is just adding another layer of richness. And every time I come across a fact that appears in the show, I become very proud of and happy for the producers and their very minor success in transitioning fact into fiction.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy' by Karen Abbott

By the time we made it to the Civil War in my AP U.S. History class, I had already been accepted to the University of Michigan Honors Program, so to say I was unmotivated would be a very polite interpretation indeed. I was a borderline distraction to my classmates; I did not prepare for the exam in the slightest, and when I got my test score in the mail I thought it was a mistake, because it was surprisingly decent. Needless to say, Civil War history is not my "thing."

Which is why I am so appreciative of history books that are able to successfully explore a rather large, important moment in human history with a very narrow, precise lens. It is my favorite type of non-fiction, and the more minute, the better. I really am enjoying Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy thus far; all four women featured in the book are very distinct characters and their own brand of bad-ass. Obviously my favorite is the Union Soldier from Michigan who cross-dressed her way into becoming a war hero. The best detail is that she had to pretend to be much worse at sewing and cleaning than she actually was, so as not to give herself away. It almost feels like too much fun to be a Civil War history book.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'On Immunity' by Eula Biss

Describing On Immunity will be very difficult, but I will endeavor to express how fantastic it is, all the same. A book about vaccinations did not exactly sound thrilling to me, and I can't remember where I read a very concise review that sparked my interest, but it was serendipitous because I heard about it, read said brief but tantalizing review, and then found it on the shelf at the library, so here we are.

Greek mythology, smallpox, Jenny McCarthy, vampires, H1N1, blood, childbirth, feminism -- all elements of Biss' approach to the concept of immunity, and all given equal weight in her meditations. I adore her structure, which is so much more literary than i expected -- short chapters without titles or numbers, as she moves seamlessly from thought to thought and topic to topic, returning constantly to her personal experiences as a new mother. (A word of warning here-- I think if I were pregnant or had a toddler I would find this book impossible to read. Biss addresses and embraces the paranoia of childhood diseases and vaccinations but it might push you over the edge if you're already in that frame of mind).

It is the best kind of non-fiction in that the author establishes authority as a researcher and as a mother with constant integration of personal experiences and impressively detailed facts. Those who enjoy really detailed and foot-noted non-fiction will be frustrated by this, but those who prefer essays and novels will find it utterly readable.

There are so many interesting points she raises and incredible stories about the human body that I wish I could share, but I don't want to ruin the experience of discovery for anyone who reads it, which I highly encourage everyone to do.

#Readwomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'The Secret History of Wonder Woman' by Jill Lepore

This book is a bit on the nose for me; it's a history of a feminist comic book character whose creation is firmly grounded in the history of the American woman suffrage movement, written by a beloved New Yorker contributor, so in other words, all the things I like.

Even so, I was genuinely surprised by how much I've loved it so far; Lepore has such a knack for rhythm and storytelling, and despite the fact that it's meticulously researched and very grounded in historical fact, the narrative moves forward at a brisk, comfortable pace. It is rewarding for a ten-page stretch, and rewarding for a ten chapter stretch. For a non-fiction work of history, that is saying something, and that kind of pacing is so incredibly difficult to manage, and yet comes across so effortlessly. It is certainly buoyed by the fact that the true story of the creation of Wonder Woman is stranger than fiction. I have never read a Wonder Woman comic, and I was too young to enjoy the Linda Carter series, so she was never a character I connected with, but even so I've found Lepore's account endlessly fascinating, in large part because it focuses so tightly on the real people adjacent to the Wonder Woman character.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words'

I don't think anyone who has read this blog in the past would be surprised to hear that I'm a huge Joni Mitchell fan. Along with Margaret Atwood, Joni is up there on a pedestal for me because of my mom, who loves Joni Mitchell and played her music around our house. It's only natural to question your mother's taste in anything, but Margaret Atwood and Joni Mitchell are two women she got very, very right, and I'm very thankful that she passed it on to me.

This is a nice contrast to Just Kids by Patti Smith, which I read not too long ago, and which was a very straightforward, chronological memoir (that makes it sound less good than it was; it is exceptional). Joni Mitchell: In Her Own Words is more like a very extensive interview that took place across decades between Joni and her friend and fellow musician Malka Marom. This really makes the book a rewarding experience for fans, because the interviewer is bringing a lot of prior knowledge to the conversation, and Marom seamlessly references song lyrics, previous interviews, Joni's writing and artwork, etc. It's gotten me into a very Joni Mitchell state of mind, and I've been playing her albums all week.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Yes, Please' by Amy Poehler

I don't think this needs any endorsement or stamp of approval from me; you know you want to read this, and you're going to. I had the audiobook pre-ordered on Audible, and the narration credits include Amy Poehler, Seth Myers, Carol Burnett, Kathleen Turner and Patrick Stewart; this is one instance in which I will very strongly recommend the audio book version, because Poehler uses the medium very thoughtfully with very funny results. It's also going to be the best way to get your Amy Poehler fix while we wait a few more months for 'Parks and Rec' to return to NBC.

Books on Books: 'The Madwoman in the Attic' by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar

I first came across The Madwoman in the Attic via Madeleine's thesis project in The Marriage Plot, but I'm surprised that I made it through four years of humanities studies without having read it, as I, much like the fictional Madeleine, spent a lot of time with books that were described as "discourses." The Madwoman in the Attic is the O.G. of feminist readings of fiction, and its influence cannot be overstated. I've been thinking a lot about it recently as I was reading Claire Messud's The Woman Upstairs, whose very title and premise are something of an homage. The book is largely concerned with female authors like Jane Austen, the Brontes, and Virginia Woolf, and it's a really excellent follow-up to anyone who has already read and enjoyed some of the major women writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

It's easy to find a first edition at any decent used book store (especially those in college towns), but do yourself a favor a pickup a newer copy that include their revised introduction, which should give you a better taste of the cultural impact the book had on feminism and literature.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Bad Feminist' by Roxane Gay

Bad Feminist: Essays

By Roxane Gay

Roxane Gay's book of hilarious and incredible essays drops TODAY so get thee to the bookstore! Some of it has been previously published and circulated on the Internet, so if you're unsure about committing to the whole book, you can dip you your toes in the free content. However, I advocate strongly for just purchasing and reading the whole damn book because there is plenty of new stuff and it's just good.

While she touches on feminism and politics, most of the essays are her pop culture writing, which is some of her absolute best stuff, imho. I am not ashamed to admit that I got into Roxane Gay's writing via her live-tweeting of The Bachelor ( a surprising number of very respected literary authors engage in this), and I'm most looking forward to reading her essay on HBO's Girls, which I somehow missed the first time around.

If you happen to be in the Detroit area, Gay is doing a reading from Bad Feminist  at Literati in Ann Arbor on Thursday, August 7, so you can get a signed copy and support a local independent bookstore.

#ReadWomen2014 Non-Fiction: 'Redefining Realness' by Janet Mock

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LGBTQ activist Janet Mock gained national attention when a profile of her experience, ‘I Was Born a Boy' was published in Marie Claire magazine in 2011. I didn’t become aware of her until the press tour for her new book Redefining Realness, when Mock gained notoriety for her very bad-ass takedowns of Piers Morgan and Katie Couric, whose misunderstanding of trans issues was utterly embarrassing.

I was really anxious to read her book, purely for its educational value. Trans culture is deeply complex and demands so much understanding and sensitivity. In my own efforts to be respectful I am often too scared to say or think anything about it, assuming that I cannot, and will never, understand trans experience. So I really appreciated the opportunity to gain her perspective from a memoir that is so deeply personal. 

While I wanted and expected lots of didacticism, I was really blown away by its sheer literary merits; that sounds like a backhanded compliment, which is not my intention. Good writers are few and far between, and Mock happens to be an excellent writer and a great trans activist.

Not only that, her own literary experiences are woven throughout and comprise major components in her personal development. I could read literary memoirs all day long, so it was a nice surprise to find that her memoir about gender and identity happened to also veer in that direction. And most importantly, she read and loved many books that I also loved at the same age, and cites Zadie Smith as her number one author crush.  

Her tone establishes a kind of intimacy between author and reader that is so hard to form and maintain, and yet it never impedes her authority as a trans woman. More generalized information about trans culture is incorporated into her own experiences so organically that it manages to be both enlightening and simultaneously pleasurable.  

My only criticism is that I dearly wish the publisher had gone with a different cover; in many ways this looks like a generic memoir, which it isn’t.  It will probably look dated ten years from now, and such a landmark book in LGBTQ culture deserves better.