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shanrichrdson's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Minor: Drug abuse, Sexism, and Sexual assault
beanith's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
3.75
This book contains four essays so I'll be rating and sharing thoughts on each.
"1/ In Praise of Navel-Gazing" 3.75/5
"1/ In Praise of Navel-Gazing" 3.75/5
- Febos believes that "navel-gazing" has a feminine (and therefore negative and lesser) connotation in peoples minds and operates mostly from that point of view in this essay. Her response is that this is a tactic of the patriarchy to shame women (and nb or other queer folk) into silence. While her broader feminist points are not new to me, I have never once considered "navel-gazing" to be feminine. On writing, though, Febos says what so many other authors (and visual artists) say: your story has value because it's your story. She also advises to stop avoiding yourself.
"2/ Mind Fuck: Writing Better Sex" 2.5/5
- Every time I've mentally revisited this essay I've rated it lower and lower. I think if there had been an additional essay that focused on the body in other acts (eating, moving, hurting, etc) I might not have been as sensitive to the content here. But the "body" in Body Work is mostly subject to trauma or sex. The most interesting points in this essay for me were ones pertaining to some of the failures of fourth-wave feminism (to be clear, that's my interpretation, Febos never comes out and says that). (Sex-work is not always the #GirlBoss move fourth-wave feminism and social media paint it to be!)
"3/ A Big Shitty Party: Six Parables of Writing About Other People" 4/5
- I think this essay is the one I have the least to say about in response. I'm most moved by the part titled "4. Letting the Writer Win" and how Febos shows her growth from an immature artist (who will make the art at any cost) to a person who has been humbled by how her work may effect others. She's still devoted to the craft but she has also softened.
"4/ The Return: The Art of Confession" 5/5
- Confessional writing has always appealed to me and most musings on the subject are bound speak to me. I feel like my inner workings and interests were reflected here but also that I learned the most from this essay than any of the others. My favorite piece of wisdom written here, "You make the past known in order to know yourself as changed."
I sense Melissa Febos is brilliant and I imagine she's a great professor or workshop leader. If she writes another craft book I hope there is more joy than there is pain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
alsoapples's review
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Drug abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual violence
jjacobi's review against another edition
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
I didn’t always enjoy reading this book, but I don’t think I was supposed to. It was a challenging and insightful read that inspired me to rethink some of my own experiences.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual violence
vigil's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
ronan_lesh's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Racism
betsygrace's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
readingbrb's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Bullying and Toxic relationship
bookwormbi's review
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
Maybe I went in with my expectations too high. It was interesting but it didn’t change my life or anything.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
bookaholiz's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I didn’t know what I expect when I pick up this book but it sure was different from my imagination. Sometimes, these are happy accidents, and this book was one of them.
It was a book on how to write about yourself, but to simplify it that way is diminishing its powerful message. In some way, the book was part memoir, as the author brought her own personal narrative into it to illustrate how she had woven the intricacies of her experience in the process of her craft.
Melissa Febos wrote with a tenacity and intensity that was overwhelming at first, when she dived into her sexual encounters and erotic desires and how one can write about sex. But once I settled into her fervent honesty, she had shown me the underlying purpose of the things she included, the wisdom of someone who had written as a mean to survive. In that I see myself, not at that level but starting to climb those first steps into writing something that makes sense of it all. Whether publication was the goal or not.
If I was familiar with her works prior to reading this, I might have had a less discombobulated start, but I actually have read an essay of her in the book “What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About” before, and hadn’t realized that until I was in the middle of reading Body Work. The fact that I recognized her writing from a collection I read years ago (and didn’t really remember it that well) really showed how much of an impression her writing had made. Will be looking forward to read her other works, even if the honesty promised by those books scares me.
It was a book on how to write about yourself, but to simplify it that way is diminishing its powerful message. In some way, the book was part memoir, as the author brought her own personal narrative into it to illustrate how she had woven the intricacies of her experience in the process of her craft.
Melissa Febos wrote with a tenacity and intensity that was overwhelming at first, when she dived into her sexual encounters and erotic desires and how one can write about sex. But once I settled into her fervent honesty, she had shown me the underlying purpose of the things she included, the wisdom of someone who had written as a mean to survive. In that I see myself, not at that level but starting to climb those first steps into writing something that makes sense of it all. Whether publication was the goal or not.
If I was familiar with her works prior to reading this, I might have had a less discombobulated start, but I actually have read an essay of her in the book “What My Mother and I Don’t Talk About” before, and hadn’t realized that until I was in the middle of reading Body Work. The fact that I recognized her writing from a collection I read years ago (and didn’t really remember it that well) really showed how much of an impression her writing had made. Will be looking forward to read her other works, even if the honesty promised by those books scares me.
Content Warnings
Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Drug abuse, Drug use, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship