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Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'
Zami: A New Spelling of My Name: A Biomythography by Audre Lorde
7 reviews
dominic_t's review against another edition
5.0
This is an amazing book that transcends the memoir genre. Lorde calls it a biomythography, and that really fits. She centers her analysis of her life on her relationships with women and explores how each woman shaped her. Her writing is so vivid and provides a window into what life was like for gay-girls (her term) in the northeast US in the 40s and 50s.
She wrote so beautifully about each relationship and really captured the experiences of infatuation, love, and heartbreak. I viscerally felt the highs and laws.
I also loved reading about the community of gay women she belonged to. It was a fascinating window into the past. She went into a lot of detail about her experience as a Black woman in a majority white community and explored the complexity of her friendships and relationships with white women. She also talked about her struggles to fit into the community as a woman who wasn't either butch or femme. I've read the perspectives of butches and femmes from communities like hers, and it was cool to get the perspective of someone who didn't fit in either role.
The progressive communities of that time were really homophobic and saw queerness as "bourgeoisie." In response to that, she wrote, "I didn’t know how I was going to bring my personal and political visions together, but I knew it had to be possible because I felt them both too strongly, and knew how much I needed them both to survive...Any world which did not have a place for me loving women was not a world in which I wanted to live, nor one which I could fight for." That quote deeply resonates with me. I can feel both her pain and her hope.
This is not an easy read. She covers abuse, bigotry, and suicide in detail. Even though the book was filled with tragedy, I ended the book feeling hopeful. Throughout everything, she had a vision of a better world, and I was able to see it too.
Graphic: Blood, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Physical abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Racism, and Rape
Moderate: Cancer
Minor: Racial slurs
lynnloveshobi's review
5.0
Graphic: Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Abandonment, Classism, Grief, Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexism, Death, Infidelity, Lesbophobia, Self harm, Homophobia, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Animal death, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Abortion, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Addiction
addyruth17's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Abortion, Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Death, Racism, Alcohol, Rape, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
mmirjamm's review against another edition
3.25
Moderate: Homophobia, Racism, and Rape
Minor: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Self harm, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Misogyny
zombiezami's review
5.0
Graphic: Abortion, Racism, Sexual content, Self harm, Sexism, Animal death, Death, Child abuse, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Grief, Classism, Blood, Alcoholism, Lesbophobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Misogyny
Moderate: Bullying, Ableism, Drug use, Mental illness, Cursing, Fatphobia, Body shaming, Infidelity, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Forced institutionalization
Minor: Vomit, War, Trafficking, Cancer, and Slavery
Colorismbrnineworms's review against another edition
5.0
At times, the major themes of relationships, the self, and truth are explicitly highlighted, while at others they permeate the text almost – but not quite – unnoticed.
Graphic: Racism, Blood, Abortion, Death, Self harm, Child abuse, Racial slurs, Grief, Sexual content, and Violence
Moderate: Rape, Ableism, Alcohol, Child death, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Homophobia, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia, Pedophilia, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Cancer, Murder, Fatphobia, Trafficking, Genocide, Incest, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pregnancy, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Slavery, and Terminal illness
sorcha's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Sexual content and Abortion
Moderate: Death of parent, Death, Grief, Racism, Lesbophobia, and Homophobia
Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Drug use