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Interviews | July 4, 2009

All posts by Jill Owens Powells.com Interview: Luis Alberto Urrea

Luis Alberto Urrea is a poet, novelist, journalist, and essayist who has been writing about the relationship between the United States and Mexico,... Continue »


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4 Remote Warehouse Gender Studies- Womens Studies


Desire: Women Write about Wanting

by Lisa Solod Warren

Desire: Women Write about Wanting Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

A captivating collection of essays, Desire delves headfirst into its subject matter and explores the complexity of desire with essays about the things women want, crave, lust after, and covet. An extraordinary group of writers tackle difficult and taboo subjects, from Debra Magpie Earling’s desire to hurt someone, to New York Times writer S. S. Fair’s less than diminishing sensual and sexual desire, despite her increasing age, to Julia Serano’s strong emotional impulse to be a woman before she decided to transition from male to female.

Many of these essayists examine the feelings and experiences which surround the things they want but can’t—or shouldn’t—have. The reasons such desires are taboo are often personal and range from social conventions and religious teachings to more concrete laws and rules. Desire makes the private public and illuminates the rich and varied desires women have.

Review:

"This uneven collection ranges from sublime reflections on the death of a friend to embarrassing musings about blow-jobs. In a memorable selection, 74-year-old memoirist Jane Juska (Unaccompanied Women) examines, with biting humor, why women want to look young, while journalist Warren, the volume's editor, describes the intimacy she found only after leaving her first marriage. But far more transgressive and startling than the predictable pieces about sex is contributor Janice Eidus's (The War of the Rosens) frank declaration that what she desires most is money, though she eventually casts this desire in traditionally feminine terms by explaining that the money is to help provide for her daughter. K. W. Oxnard's ode to babylust is powerful and funny, but it concludes with the same unsatisfying vagueness as the collection as a whole. Warren's introduction lacks the crucial assessment of the commonplace notion that women are trained to ignore or subvert desire. Despite leaving unexamined her conclusion that the range of desires expressed in this collection is 'just skimming the surface,' Warren has collected an enjoyable and thought-provoking variety of essays." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Product Details

ISBN:
9781580052146
Subtitle:
Women Write about Wanting
Author:
Solod Warren, Lisa
Editor:
Warren, Lisa Solod
Publisher:
Seal Press (CA)
Subject:
Women's Studies
Subject:
Women's Studies - General
Subject:
Essays
Subject:
Women
Subject:
Sex
Subject:
Women -- Psychology.
Publication Date:
October 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
301
Dimensions:
8.24x5.54x.90 in. .87 lbs.

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