Books

Last week, I had the distinct pleasure of attending a lecture given by Mary Roach. Many of you have probably read her books Bonk and Stiff, and thus you know she is a thorough researcher whose tastes run a bit on the weird side. As she put it, she likes to cover topics that combine "history, science, and some gross stuff." The lecture I attended was on her latest book, Packing for Mars, and the subject matter definitely fits the bill. Pooping in space, anyone?

You bookworms out there probably don't need us to tell you about Laura Lippman. You already know that she's an award-winning novelist, best known for her crime stories (which feature awesome female protagonists) and her time as a reporter for the Baltimore Sun. But did you know that she's also a member of the Bitch Media National Advisory Board? And that her latest book, I'd Know You Anywhere comes out today? We sent a few questions to Laura to get the scoop on her new novel and the inspiration behind the awesome women she writes.

 

In the many years that I’ve been editing book reviews, I’ve never been pitched so hard on a title as I was for Roxana Shirazi’s The Last Living Slut: Born In Iran, Bred Backstage. The book’s PR trumpeted that it “is sure to be one of the most-talked-about and controversial books of the year…the rock and roll version of The Satanic Verses.” Weekly e-mails and phone calls alerted me to the “unapologetic, feminist book” and its “passionate, heartfelt tale of jilted love,” urged me to interview the author, and—with that Rushdie reference—suggested that Shirazi’s tale of cock-rock conquest could easily be grounds for a fatwa.

After actually reading it, though, I’m thinking that if The Last Living Slut does turn out to be one of the most talked-about books of the year, it’ll be mainly because those publicists can’t stop fulminating about how controversial it is.

Today's Bibliobitch is a follow up to Kjerstin's Sm{Art} tribute to Frida Kahlo from last Wednesday. While Barbara Kingsolver's newest book, The Lacuna, isn't exclusivly about Frida, Diego Rivera and their circle of compatriots and compadres, the most interesting chunk of the book is certainly that which revolves around the protagonist, Harrison William Shepard's, time in their employ.

You're looking at the cover of a new book by John Joseph, New York native and author of The Evolution of a Cro-Magnon. Besides grimacing, my other first reaction to the book was Malori Maloney's assessment of Skinny Bastard - the male-marketed follow-up to the "vegan/animal rights manifesto wrapped in chick-lit veneer" Skinny Bitch. Malori wrote, "What could be an awesome vegan manifesto is so rife with gendered language, sexist commentary and an apparent obsession with physical appearance over healthy living that potential positive and/or helpful messages get clouded." Having not read Joseph's book, I can't claim this is entirely true about Meat is for Pussies...but something about that title tells me it is.

You’ve likely encountered the work of writer and editor Ada Calhoun—whether it’s her critique of Inga Muscio’s Cunt for Nerve.com, her editorial work on Babble.com, of which she was founding editor, her pieces for Time and New York magazines, or her blog conversation 90s Woman—where, among many other admirable feminist pursuits, she and author Kara Jesella try to pinpoint the “most 90s woman” song of 2010.

Now Calhoun has published her first book, Instinctive Parenting: Trusting Ourselves to Raise Good Kids, which chronicles her life as a new mother and outlines her parenting philosophy. Consider her the feminist lit voice for a back-to-basics approach to mamahood in the era of “helicopter parenting,” the obsessive Gen X and Y response to the laissez-faire style of their parents. It may just be the only parenting book blurbed by Kathleen Hanna.

Page Turner recently interviewed Calhoun about her take on parenting culture, the gender spectrum in raising a boy, her “get out of hell” mantra for crisis moments, and how playground life circa 2010 really can evoke Heathers-era teen flicks.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks deserves every ounce of praise that has been heaped on it. Rebecca Skloot has one heck of a story to tell, a story that actually belongs to another woman: Henrietta Lacks. The book is partially a retelling of Henrietta’s life and her death, but also a thorough chronicle of the history of HeLa cells (so named by taking the first and last two letters of the donor’s name), which were developed after Henrietta's death. These cells (pictured above) revolutionized science in so many ways it hardly seems believable that we don't have a national holiday honoring the woman. HeLa cells were invaluable in developing the polio vaccine, they were the clue to unlocking the number of chromosomes in human DNA, they were shot into space, exposed to radiation and mixed with plant cells, mice cells, cloned and still contribute every year to the development of new cancer medicine and treatment methods.

Susan Douglas's seminal 1995 book Where the Girls Are: Growing Up with the Mass Media explored how woman see and are seen in pop culture, tracing feminism in pop culture from the 1950s and '60s through the 1980s.  Her newest book, Enlightened Sexism: The Seductive Message That Feminism’s Work is Done, revisits the subject of women's representation in the mass media, and finds a troubling series of mixed messages, empty "empowerment," and consumer imperatives masquerading as postfeminist power.

As longtime fans of Douglas's wit, irreverance, and spot-on critique, Bitch is thrilled to feature the epilogue of Enlightened Sexism. It's after the jump, as is an interview with Douglas by Andi Zeisler.

For a long time, one of my favorite vegan thinkers has been A. Breeze Harper, author of the Sistah Vegan website/blog and now the author of her newly released book of the same name—out this month! Harper also contributes to the Vegans of Color blog—see my last post for a Q&A with the blog’s founder—and perhaps not surprising when you consider her blog/book’s name, her work centers on the intersections of racial identity, gender identity, and veganism in the U.S.

Andromeda Klein is the second YA novel by Frank Portman, aka Dr. Frank of East Bay punk band The Mr. T Experience. Even the simplest plot description showcases how truly weird Portman's latest creation is: she's a high school student/magic disciple attempting to decode the dream messages she is receiving from her dead best frenemy. This isn't harmless, whimsical, nose-wrinkly "Bewitched"-style magic, and Andromeda isn't just quirky or offbeat – think more along the lines of deeply alienated and borderline schizophrenic.