cwalsh's review against another edition
4.0
I really loved the autobiographical essays in Part I, particularly Driving as Metaphor, On Rudeness, and of course, Aftermath. I'm being dramatic (or am I?), but I'm pretty infatuated with Cusk's ability to introduce an idea, go off on a tangent for about 20 pages, and then swiftly circle back to it to tie things up with finesse. Upon picking Coventry up, I didn't realize that Part II was criticism, but I'm so happy it was. Typically I read Cusk's work with focus and intent, but I actually struggled with this one because the tone was so monotonous throughout the first six essays.
The stand out to me in Part II was Eat, Pray, Love. It's smart, humorous, and to be blunt, quite honest:
"Women like this literature because it alleviates feelings of pressure without the attendant risks of rebellion or change."
"The problem lies in the egotism in these female goddesses and gurus who require that their female audience to standstill and they twirl about. Who require us to watch and listen, to laugh at their jokes, admire their beauty, reality, and their freedoms. To witness their successes ... but to say that would be to take it all the much too serious."
The stand out to me in Part II was Eat, Pray, Love. It's smart, humorous, and to be blunt, quite honest:
"Women like this literature because it alleviates feelings of pressure without the attendant risks of rebellion or change."
"The problem lies in the egotism in these female goddesses and gurus who require that their female audience to standstill and they twirl about. Who require us to watch and listen, to laugh at their jokes, admire their beauty, reality, and their freedoms. To witness their successes ... but to say that would be to take it all the much too serious."
emsemsems's review against another edition
3.0
First half's quite brilliant, but Cusk's writing got a bit dry afterwards (what a shame, because Cusk wrote about people/things that I was actually interested in - like Louise Bourgeois, and D. H. Lawrence). I find that Vivian Gornick's [b:Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader|48886044|Unfinished Business Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader|Vivian Gornick|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1574098245l/48886044._SY75_.jpg|70730158] is much better when it comes to writers writing about other writers. RTC.
julianiem19's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
2.5
slintangel's review against another edition
1.0
marking as read because her takes on feminism REEK of gender essentialism and first world problems of middle class women who are deeply out of touch