Know My Name: A Memoir

Staff Top Fives 2019

Our favorite books of the year.

Chanel Miller. Wow. I'm in complete awe of her resilience and strength. There is a reason Hillary Clinton quoted her victim impact statement in her own book and it doesn't just have to do with her skill as a writer. Chanel Miller is not only a strong woman, but has the brilliant, singular skill of being able to parse out into words her painful journey and inner turmoil with strength, power, and eloquence. This should be required reading in the era we live in. It will shatter all illusions that one might have about what it means to be a survivor, the level of strength required to seek justice, recover, and take back who you are. We all could have been an Emily Doe. Chanel Miller is one of those Emily Does who spoke up and gave them a voice. Recommended By Pia B., Powells.com

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

Chosen as a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR by The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, TIME, Elle, Glamour, Parade, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, BookRiot

"Miller is an extraordinary writer: plain, precise and moving." NPR

"Know My Name is a gut-punch, and in the end, somehow, also blessedly hopeful." Washington Post

"Know My Name marks the debut of a gifted young writer. Miller's words are purpose. They are maps. And she is a treasure who has prevailed." The New York Times

She was known to the world as Emily Doe when she stunned millions with a letter. Brock Turner had been sentenced to just six months in county jail after he was found sexually assaulting her on Stanford's campus. Her victim impact statement was posted on BuzzFeed, where it instantly went viral — viewed by eleven million people within four days, it was translated globally and read on the floor of Congress; it inspired changes in California law and the recall of the judge in the case. Thousands wrote to say that she had given them the courage to share their own experiences of assault for the first time.

Now she reclaims her identity to tell her story of trauma, transcendence, and the power of words. It was the perfect case, in many ways — there were eyewitnesses, Turner ran away, physical evidence was immediately secured. But her struggles with isolation and shame during the aftermath and the trial reveal the oppression victims face in even the best-case scenarios. Her story illuminates a culture biased to protect perpetrators, indicts a criminal justice system designed to fail the most vulnerable, and, ultimately, shines with the courage required to move through suffering and live a full and beautiful life.

Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing. It also introduces readers to an extraordinary writer, one whose words have already changed our world. Entwining pain, resilience, and humor, this memoir will stand as a modern classic.

"In its rare honesty and in its small details, Know My Name is both an open wound and a salve, a quiet cry and the loudest scream... Know My Name is more than an indictment, though it is a successful and moving one. It is also an outstretched hand, inviting you to fight alongside her." Elle

"In a world that asks too many survivors to keep their experiences to themselves and shrink their suffering to preserve someone else's potential, Know My Name stands unapologetically large, asking others to reckon with its author's dazzling, undiminishable presence. To read it, in spite of everything, inspires hope." The Guardian

"In a perfect world, Know My Name would be required reading for every police officer, detective, prosecutor, provost and judge who deals with victims of sexual assault." LA Times

"Know My Name is an act of reclamation. On every page, Miller unflattens herself, returning from Victim or Emily Doe to Chanel, a beloved daughter and sister... Know My Name marks the debut of a gifted young writer. Miller's words are purpose. They are maps. And she is a treasure who has prevailed." The New York Times

Chanel Miller is a writer and artist who received her BA in Literature from the College of Creative Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives in San Francisco, California.