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richardwells's review against another edition
4.0
A Nation Book Critics Circle Award winning collection of perceptive essays concerning race and white privilege, religion, violence - these are American essays - among other things. The collection is broken down: Before, California, the Midwest, and After, with a Coda. It's written in a personal and personable manner, but the easiness of the read is not an indication of the difficulty of the subject matter - these are American essays.
Worth it.
Worth it.
djinnmartini's review against another edition
5.0
if I were a teacher is assign to read with Als' WHITE GIRLS. perfectly woven, pithy, thoughtful critique.
balletbookworm's review
4.0
"Is This Kansas" annoyed the hell out of me (I understand from reading the notes why she took the approach she did but that doesn't mean I have to like it) however the rear of the essays are first-rate. Excellent style.
slowlytyped's review against another edition
5.0
There are books that happen to find people at just the right time, and this one is mine. Biss, like Didion, has a way of taking you right up to a conclusion and setting you free to construct your own judgement. Beautiful, honest, and some of the best nonfiction I've read yet.
kutklose302's review against another edition
5.0
A very well written book that i could not put down. "Bravo"
dcmr's review
4.0
I agree with this assessment:
" . . . a mix of insistence and quandary, as though she is despairing and pressing on simultaneously." -- says Robert Polito, who awarded this essay collection the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize (it also earned the National Book Critics Circle Award).
" . . . a mix of insistence and quandary, as though she is despairing and pressing on simultaneously." -- says Robert Polito, who awarded this essay collection the Graywolf Press Nonfiction Prize (it also earned the National Book Critics Circle Award).
lizzie24601's review
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Wow wow wow. Biss is an exceptional writer, with an insightful skill in questioning her own experiences and viewpoint. The first two essays are quite research-heavy and didn't really catch my attention, but once you get to the third one, each and every essay to follow caught my attention and broadened my perspective. 100% recommend this.
kaileycool's review
5.0
Read this for my Baldwin class. I don't agree with all of Biss' assertions, and I'm not sure she has the right to make some of them, but the exploration is provoking, which I think is the point. The metaphor of a treacherous "no man's land" where the very ground beneath you is deceptively unstable is a very apt way to describe this text, a fact that makes it clear the provocation is intentional. Her argument that guilt is the racial heritage of white Americans is certainly offensive to some, but I would agree with her even if I didn't have a natural predilection toward offensive women. There were several palpably uncomfortable moments in the class session dedicated to this book, and I think that's the point.