Description

‘Pink is my favourite colour. I used to say my favourite colour was black to be cool, but it is pink – all shades of pink. If I have an accessory, it is probably pink. I read Vogue, and I’m not doing it ironically, though it might seem that way. I once live-tweeted the September issue.’

In these funny and insightful essays, Roxane Gay takes us through the journey of her evolution as a woman (Sweet Valley High) of colour (The Help) while also taking readers on a ride through culture of the last few years (Girls, Django in Chains) and commenting on the state of feminism today (abortion, Chris Brown). The portrait that emerges is not only one of an incredibly insightful woman continually growing to understand herself and our society, but also one of our culture.

Bad Feminist is a sharp, funny and sincere look at the ways in which the culture we consume becomes who we are, and an inspiring call-to-arms of all the ways we still need to do better.

Publisher Review

If you read one book this month, let it be this gem by Roxane Gay . . . Tackling topics as varied as racial privilege, Chris Brown, feminism, Fifty Shades of Grey and Trayvon Martin in her typically spot-on and engaging style. This is a book all your girlfriends will want to borrow. * Pride * A thoughtful and often hilarious new collection of essays. * Chicago Tribune * I know there are still four and a half months left, but I'm calling it now: 2014 is the year of Roxane Gay. I just devoured her book, Bad Feminist . . . Amazing. * Rookie * Fascinating . . . An important and pioneering contemporary writer . . . Readers will immediately understand the appeal of Gay's intimate and down-to-earth voice . . . An important contribution to the complicated terrain of gender politics. * Boston Globe * An assortment of comical, yet astute essays that touch on Gay's personal evolution as a woman, popular culture throughout the recent past, and the state of feminism today. * Harper's Bazaar * Roxane Gay is the brilliant girl-next-door: your best friend and your sharpest critic . . . She is by turns provocative, chilling, hilarious; she is also required reading. * People * What makes Bad Feminist such a good read isn't only Gay's ability to deftly weave razor-sharp pop cultural analysis and criticism with a voice that is both intimate and relatable. It's that she's incapable of blindly accepting any kind of orthodoxy. * San Francisco Chronicle * Gay's essays expertly weld her personal experiences with broader gender trends occurring politically and in popular culture. * Huffington Post * Alternately friendly and provocative, wry and serious, her takes on everything from Girls to Fifty Shades of Grey help to recontextualize what feminism is--and what it can be. * Time Out (New York) * Gay's essays are consistently smart and provocative. * USA Today * Roxane Gay applies her discerning eye to everything from Paula Deen to The Batchelor. * Marie Claire * Refreshing . . . [Gay's] greatest gift as a writer is energy, enthusiasm - sheer gusto. She loves bad television, and enjoys terrible films, and is overjoyed by an unexpected triple word score. Her writing feels alive. You might not always agree with her, but you are always interested to know what she thinks. -- Helen Lewis * New Statesman * One of our sharpest new culture critics plants her flag in topics ranging from trigger warnings to Orange is the New Black in this timely collection of essays. * O, the Oprah Magazine * I just read Roxane Gay's Bad Feminist in one plane ride. It's brilliant. I am deeply grateful for it. Please read this book. -- Elizabeth Gilbert (author of Eat, Pray, Love) via Twitter As Bad Feminist proves, Gay is a necessary and brave voice when it comes to figuring out all the crazy mixed messages in our mixed-up world. -- `20 New Nonfiction Books That Will Make You Smarter' * Flavorwire * Smart readers cannot afford to miss these essays, which range from socially significant art (Girls, Django in Chains) and feminist issues (abortion) to politics (Chris Brown) and why Gay likes pink. * Library Journal * Roxane is a powerhouse of a writer. She's really punk in her approach and her book Bad Feminist has liberated a lot of women by making it clear you can be a conflicted, complicated woman and still identify with feminism. -- Lena Dunham Let this be the year of Roxane Gay. * Time Magazine * Gay is my favorrite current writer. -- Jessica Valenti * Guardian * Roxane Gay is so great at weaving the intimate and personal with what is most bewildering and upsetting at this moment in culture. She is always looking, always thinking, always passionate, always careful, always right there. -- Sheila Heti, author of How Should a Person Be? A strikingly fresh cultural critic. -- Ron Charles * Washington Post *