Synopses & Reviews
A feminist anthology inspired by legendary Cosmopolitan editor Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl, featuring twenty-four new essays on the triumphs and heartbreaks of modern singlehood from acclaimed and bestselling authors, including Kristen Arnett, Morgan Parker, Evette Dionne, and Melissa Febos.
Sixty years ago, Helen Gurley Brown's Sex and the Single Girl sent shockwaves through the United States, selling more than two million copies in three weeks. Helen's message was radical for its time: marriage wasn't essential for women to lead rich, fulfilling lives.
Now, in these critical, wry, and expansive essays, twenty-four writers reconsider Helen's advice and how it applies to their own paths, fielding topics that she couldn't — or wouldn't — conceive of in 1962: contraception and abortion (an omission demanded by her publisher), queer and trans womanhood, polyamory, celibacy, interracial dating, bodies of all kinds, consent, sex work, IVF, and the pop culture that both saves and fails us.
Eliza Smith and Haley Swanson's revisionist anthology honors Brown's irreverent spirit while also validating our modern experiences of singlehood, encouraging us all to reclaim joy where it's so often been denied.
Review
“A wide-ranging, life-affirming collection.” Booklist
Review
“A refreshing and relevant update to a classic, featuring some of my favorite working writers today.” Jami Attenberg, New York Times bestselling author of The Middlesteins and I Came All This Way to Meet You
Review
“Sex and the Single Woman is at once a tribute to the ground-breaking work of Helen Gurley Brown, and a corrective for her outdated perspectives. With a wonderful assortment of eye-opening, moving stories from a diverse group of writers, the book is a joy to get lost in. Truly a celebration of sexually liberated women — of all backgrounds, ages, and orientations.” Sari Botton, New York Times bestselling editor of Goodbye to All That and author of the memoir And You May Find Yourself...
Review
"Sex and the Single Woman is essential reading for anyone who has experienced — or is currently experiencing — all the joys, pains, and complex beauty of their own singlehood era. Rather than painting one's status as a single or childfree woman as something to be pitied or glossed over or devalued, this book takes singlehood seriously, and does not contain its exploration to one voice, but rather passes the mic around to paint a much more interesting picture.” Emma Gray, Host of Love To See It and author of A Girl's Guide To Joining The Resistance
About the Author
Eliza Smith is a writer and editor based in Missoula, Montana. Her work has appeared in New York Magazine’s The Cut, Indiana Review, and elsewhere. She’s currently the audience development editor at Literary Hub.
Haley Swanson is a writer and editor based in New York. Her essays have appeared in The Rumpus, Glamour, Electric Literature, Creative Nonfiction, Brevity, and elsewhere. She's currently an MFA candidate at Sarah Lawrence College.