Staff Pick
I found this book to be upsetting, and appropriately so. Though peppered with humorous stories, the statistics about violence against women are what stuck in my mind. It's slim enough to be read in one sitting, but you may want to read it twice to fully absorb the information. I highly recommend this for anyone even remotely interested in the current culture of sexism in the USA. Recommended By Anna M., Powells.com
Because of the variety in this collection, I'd recommend this book both to people who are passingly curious about women's studies/feminism as well as those who already know their way around the basics. The very first essay hooked me right away with its sharp humor.
It's also a pleasure to watch Solnit cover power and gender in these essays because she has written so many other books on a huge variety of topics that her experience as a writer and thoroughness shine through. Recommended By Junix S., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
"This slim book—seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez—hums with power and wit."—Boston Globe
"The antidote to mansplaining."—The Stranger
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions."—Salon
"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society."—San Francisco Chronicle Top Shelf
"Solnit [is] the perfect writer to tackle the subject: her prose style is so clear and cool."—The New Republic
"The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost."—National Post
In her comic, scathing essay, "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.
This updated edition with two new essays of this national bestseller book features that now-classic essay as well as "#YesAllWomen," an essay written in response to 2014 Isla Vista killings and the grassroots movement that arose with it to end violence against women and misogyny, and the essay "Cassandra Syndrome." This book is also available in hardcover.
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of fourteen books, most recently The Faraway Nearby. She is a Harper's Magazine contributing editor.
Review
This slim book seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez hums with power and wit."
Boston Globe
"The Antidote to Mansplaining."
The Stranger
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions."
Salon
"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society."
San Francisco Chronicle Top Shelf
"Solnit [is] the perfect writer to tackle the subject: Her prose style is so clear and cool."
The New Republic
"The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost."
National Post
"Where opponents would argue that feminism is humorless and superfluous, Men Explain Things to Me is a compelling argument for the movement's necessary presence in contemporary society. It approaches the subject with candor and openness, furthering the conversation and opening a new Pandora's box that's apt to change the way we talk about women's rights."
Shelf Awareness
"Solnits intimate understanding of how the twin bulwarks of language and silence fuel political agendas is only part of what makes her writing so exciting. The other essays in the collection complement the first (some are even stronger), but theirs is the poetic correlation of masterful storytelling. Ultimately Solnits interdisciplinary, patchwork narratives are drawn together by a single theme: hope."
The Baffler
"An engaging primer on the realities of mansplaining."
Bitch Magazine
"Solnits pull-no-punches observations... make this a valuable contribution to feminist theory."
The Indypendent
"A riveting collection of feminist essays."
Chicagoist
"A necessary read in these fraught times. Starting with the title essay, which went viral and inspired the ever-useful term mansplaining,” Solnit writes powerfully about the ways in which power is wielded in todays society, and brings awareness to the staggering inequalities that we wrestle with on a daily basis."
FlavorWire
"A brilliant, varied, and thoroughly enjoyable readand definitely an addition to my list of feminist faves."
Lip Magazine
"Sharp-witted and bold... quintessential Solnit."
Publishers Weekly
"Sharp narratives that illuminate and challenge the status quo of women's roles in the world. Slim in scope, but yet another good book by Solnit."
Kirkus Reviews
"Fantastic" Amanda Palmer
Synopsis
"This slim book--seven essays, punctuated by enigmatic, haunting paintings by Ana Teresa Fernandez--hums with power and wit."--Boston Globe
"The antidote to mansplaining."--The Stranger
"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions."--Salon
"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society."--San Francisco Chronicle Top Shelf
"Solnit is] the perfect writer to tackle the subject: her prose style is so clear and cool."--The New Republic
"The terrain has always felt familiar, but Men Explain Things To Me is a tool that we all need in order to find something that was almost lost."--National Post
In her comic, scathing essay, "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.
This updated edition with two new essays of this national bestseller book features that now-classic essay as well as "#YesAllWomen," an essay written in response to 2014 Isla Vista killings and the grassroots movement that arose with it to end violence against women and misogyny, and the essay "Cassandra Syndrome." This book is also available in hardcover.
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of eighteen or so books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including the books Men Explain Things to Me and Hope in the Dark, both also with Haymarket; a trilogy of atlases of American cities; The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at Harper's and a regular contributor to the Guardian.
Synopsis
A landmark essay that went viral, inspired the word mansplaining,” and prompted fierce arguments.
About the Author
Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of sixteen books about environment, landscape, community, art, politics, hope, and memory, including Hope in the Dark: Untold
Histories, Wild Possibilities, (which began as her first TomDispatch essay back in 2003); The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism and the Lannan Literary Award); and atlases of San Francisco and New Orleans. A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a contributing editor to Harpers and frequent contributor to TomDispatch.