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cameliarose's review against another edition
4.0
Briallen Hopper writes about her relationship with female friends and sisters. She writes about writers, books and TV shows. Above of all, she writes about women. Reading it is like talking to your long term friend who is a compassionate and intelligent, even though our background can not be more different. Like her, I too value female friendship highly. Like her, I did in the past attempt to revive a dead friendship.
My favorite essays in this collection:
-- Lean On: A Declaration of Dependence (I like to lean too. Mutual dependence is the necessity for a friendship)
-- On Spinsters (Very sharp, very thoughtful)
-- Hoarding (Collecting small objects as memory reminders is what I do all the time. Totally understand why she feels giving up things is like abandoning pieces of your past; yes, even best friends need to maintain boundary, but true friends will make it up eventually.)
-- On Sisters (sisters may be your best friends and worst enemies, but they will take you in when nobody else will)
-- Young Adult Cancer Story
-- Coasting
-- The Foundling Museum
-- Moby-Dick
Quotes:
"A family found in adulthood can never attain the involuntary intimacy of the siblings who have known you since birth, and squabbled with you in bathrooms and at breakfast tables from time immemorial. But sometimes, perhaps for this reason, a found family can know and love you for who you are - not for who you once were, or who you never were."
"I cling to the word 'spinster' in the second decade of the twenty-first century because it serves as a challenge to the way our society still conflates coupledom with love, maturity, and citizenship, while seeing unmarried people as - to quote Justice Kennedy - 'condemned to live in loneliness.' And, to borrow a phrase from second-wave historian Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, I cling to the word because it links me with my spinster sisters throughout history in a shared 'female world of love and ritual.' I cling to it and hold it close because, to riff on a refrain from Hilton Als, it's the spinsters who made me."
My favorite essays in this collection:
-- Lean On: A Declaration of Dependence (I like to lean too. Mutual dependence is the necessity for a friendship)
-- On Spinsters (Very sharp, very thoughtful)
-- Hoarding (Collecting small objects as memory reminders is what I do all the time. Totally understand why she feels giving up things is like abandoning pieces of your past; yes, even best friends need to maintain boundary, but true friends will make it up eventually.)
-- On Sisters (sisters may be your best friends and worst enemies, but they will take you in when nobody else will)
-- Young Adult Cancer Story
-- Coasting
-- The Foundling Museum
-- Moby-Dick
Quotes:
"A family found in adulthood can never attain the involuntary intimacy of the siblings who have known you since birth, and squabbled with you in bathrooms and at breakfast tables from time immemorial. But sometimes, perhaps for this reason, a found family can know and love you for who you are - not for who you once were, or who you never were."
"I cling to the word 'spinster' in the second decade of the twenty-first century because it serves as a challenge to the way our society still conflates coupledom with love, maturity, and citizenship, while seeing unmarried people as - to quote Justice Kennedy - 'condemned to live in loneliness.' And, to borrow a phrase from second-wave historian Carroll Smith-Rosenberg, I cling to the word because it links me with my spinster sisters throughout history in a shared 'female world of love and ritual.' I cling to it and hold it close because, to riff on a refrain from Hilton Als, it's the spinsters who made me."
bookalong's review against another edition
5.0
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A Thought-Provoking Collection!
I loved this book! In these candid essays the way Hopper writes about finding love and connections was so insightful! Proving that for women there is more ways to find happiness and love and genuine connections than marriage alone. Instead through close friends, siblings, and writing she forges meaningful loving relationships.
I think a lot of people will see themselves in these essays. Her prose are precise and clear. It really made me think about relationships and love in a new ways. Reccomended Reading!
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Thank You to the Publisher for sending me this book.
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A Thought-Provoking Collection!
I loved this book! In these candid essays the way Hopper writes about finding love and connections was so insightful! Proving that for women there is more ways to find happiness and love and genuine connections than marriage alone. Instead through close friends, siblings, and writing she forges meaningful loving relationships.
I think a lot of people will see themselves in these essays. Her prose are precise and clear. It really made me think about relationships and love in a new ways. Reccomended Reading!
•
Thank You to the Publisher for sending me this book.
briallenhopper's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0
The best book I’ve written so far!
mpeverhart's review against another edition
5.0
Beautiful essays on interdependence, friendship, community, and what it means to do life together. Altogether lovely, humorous, and resonant. This will be a favorite book for a long time coming.
astrolobster's review against another edition
5.0
This book is beautiful, searing, and helped me to think about love and friendship in new ways. If you are a human who knows other humans, you should read it.
bookedinsideout's review against another edition
I like the sentiment behind it, but the writing is just not working for me.
alj24's review against another edition
3.0
I think I just came into this book with different expectations than what was actually in here.
I was expecting a lot of essays diving into Hopper's embracing of spinster-hood and valuing friendship in a way that isn't often seem in American life. And to be fair, most of her essays were shaded by these concerns. However, she used them as a lens to talk about other media. While I enjoyed reading about Cheers and Cards-Against-Humanity style Moby Dick, I wanted more specific about Hopper's wrestling. Oh well.
I was expecting a lot of essays diving into Hopper's embracing of spinster-hood and valuing friendship in a way that isn't often seem in American life. And to be fair, most of her essays were shaded by these concerns. However, she used them as a lens to talk about other media. While I enjoyed reading about Cheers and Cards-Against-Humanity style Moby Dick, I wanted more specific about Hopper's wrestling. Oh well.
vagabondophelia's review against another edition
5.0
A quite enjoyed these essays. Despite being a vastly different person with different beliefs I found a lot of her thoughts universal and provoking. I feel like I'll pick this one up again.
toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this more than I did. Somewhere between the first essay and the last, this author flat out forgot what the point of the book was, and so did I. There were parts of it that sincerely moved me - I highlighted them, even. But even that fact couldn't save it. I had to DNF on the second to last essay because it bothered me that this author who is presumably straight, kept using the word "queer" to describe LGBT folks. Using that word is fine...IF you're LGBT. But if you aren't, maybe just use the acronym. It turned me off so much that I just put it down and said "no more."
Also no one asked for an entire chapter dedicated to the sitcom "Cheers." I don't know why this author thought that was a good idea.
Also no one asked for an entire chapter dedicated to the sitcom "Cheers." I don't know why this author thought that was a good idea.