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joannerixon's review
4.0
White speculative fiction authors should feel like this book is required reading. It seems pretty niche: a book about just one particular set of experiences at one particular sci-fi convention. But it is actually a surprisingly comprehensive look at how power structures operate and perpetuate themselves even in spaces that are actively working to stop that from happening. And of course, it's also a portrait of the pains and struggles of non-white (and often non-male, non-straight, non-able-bodied) writers have dealt with those power structures.
The problem that I and many other white writers face is that whiteness is so invisible that it's hard to work with, in our art and writing. Instead we keep tripping over this invisible obstacle. This book is like throwing paint into the air and seeing where it falls: if you read it with an inquiring, curious mind, you may see the invisible thing that has been giving you problems. And that may allow for fewer barked shins and stubbed toes in the future.
I suppose it's probably also pretty cool for people who have been to WisCon, but, uh, I have never been so I wouldn't know!
The problem that I and many other white writers face is that whiteness is so invisible that it's hard to work with, in our art and writing. Instead we keep tripping over this invisible obstacle. This book is like throwing paint into the air and seeing where it falls: if you read it with an inquiring, curious mind, you may see the invisible thing that has been giving you problems. And that may allow for fewer barked shins and stubbed toes in the future.
I suppose it's probably also pretty cool for people who have been to WisCon, but, uh, I have never been so I wouldn't know!
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