Burn It Down: Women Writing About Anger

A rich, nuanced exploration of women's anger from a diverse group of writers

Women are furious, and we're not keeping it to ourselves any longer. We're expected to be composed and compliant, but in a world that would strip us of our rights, disparage our contributions, and deny us a seat at the table of authority, we're no longer willing to quietly seethe behind tight smiles. We're ready to burn it all down.

In this ferocious collection of essays, twenty-two writers explore how anger has shaped their lives: author of the New York Times bestseller The Empathy Exams Leslie Jamison confesses that she used to insist she wasn't angry-until she learned that she was; Melissa Febos, author of the Lambda Literary Award--winning memoir Abandon Me, writes about how she discovered that anger can be an instrument of power; editor-in-chief of Bitch Media Evette Dionne dismantles the "angry Black woman" stereotype; and more.

Broad-ranging and cathartic, Burn It Down is essential reading for any woman who has scorched with rage-and is ready to claim her right to express it.

"The twenty-two essays collected in Burn It Down are a gift of sanity and clear-eyed moral vision in an increasingly degraded moral world. This book galvanizes women's collective and individual rage, even as it redefines how we could and should understand that anger — and ourselves." Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckonings and The Other Side

"Burn It Down is a potent literary offering — a revolution born within the collective rage — expressed, unleashed, sublimated, and capsuled to honor our feminist legacy. Scorched earth speaks through these brilliant women who teach us that vulnerability and ire writ large will save those who have been shamed and condemned. Glorious, punk as hell, and utterly necessary." Sophia Shalmiyev, award-winning author of Mother Winter

"The twenty-two essays collected in Burn It Down are a gift of sanity and clear-eyed moral vision in an increasingly degraded moral world. This book galvanizes women's collective and individual rage, even as it redefines how we could and should understand that anger — and ourselves." Lacy M. Johnson, author of The Reckonings and The Other Side

"Burn It Down is deeply affirming for any woman who has struggled with anger in this difficult world. There is no judgment here; only alchemy." Kelly Sundberg, author of Goodbye, Sweet Girl

Lilly Dancyger is the memoir editor at Narratively, a contributing editor at Catapult, and assistant books editor at Barrelhouse. Her essays and journalism on sex, politics, and culture have appeared in Rolling Stone, the Rumpus, the Washington Post, Psychology Today, and more. Dancyger is at work on a memoir about her father's art and heroin addiction and the legacy of both in her life. She lives in New York.