Gender Studies

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado

Abuse, Adult Nonfiction, Banned Books, Biography & Autobiography, Domestic Partner Abuse, Family & Relationships, Gender Studies, LGBTQ+, Personal Memoirs, Social Science

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An engrossing and necessary work of memoir, queer perspective, and groundbreaking from examining a history of abuse through a series of prismatic episodes dissecting road trips, meetings with parents, Disney villains, and gaslighting. Stumbling through each new layer you delve deeper into the unshakeable, irrational hold of abuse. At times what seemed like romance transforms in the next page into folklore, raw emotion, queer theory, criticism, and horror. I am immensely grateful for the work Carmen Maria Machado has done in writing as generous a book as In the Dream House.

In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado, (List Price: $18, Graywolf Press, 9781644450383, December 2020)

Reviewed by Luis Correa, Avid Bookshop in Athens, Georgia

Abortion by Pauline Harmange

Abortion & Birth Control, Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Civil Rights, Essays, Feminism & Feminist Theory, Gender Studies, Personal Memoirs, Political Science, Social Science

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This is exactly what we need more of in the ongoing discussion around abortion; nuanced personal accounts of abortions. While Harmange makes no apologies for her decision to terminate her pregnancy, she does describe in clear detail the grief that accompanied her decision and the shame she experienced. The decision to end a pregnancy is never made lightly even when it is absolutely the right choice and it should not be an experience filled with shame that goes untalked about.

Abortion by Pauline Harmange, (List Price: 16, Scribe US, 9781957363295, May 2023)

Reviewed by Melissa Taylor, E. Shaver, Bookseller in Savannah, Georgia

Dirtbag, Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald

Adult Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, Essays, Gender Studies, Personal Memoirs

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Darkly funny and brutally honest, this memoir about surviving a chaotic childhood is a page-turner. The author is a natural storyteller who also offers insight into his motivations and those of his parents. (And I can attest to the accuracy of his descriptions of high school, since we attended the same one, though at different times!)

Dirtbag, Massachusetts by Isaac Fitzgerald, (List Price: 27, Bloomsbury Publishing, 9781635573978, July 2022)

Reviewed by Anne Peck, Righton Books in St. Simon’s Island, Georgia

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