A review by meadowbat
The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel

4.0

Meandering, layered, and full of small delights, this is the memoir of a searcher. Since adolescence, Bechdel has sought to improve both her body and mind. Her pursuits are as eclectic as her literary references, ranging from cross-country skiing to karate, transcendentalism to Buddhism, the L.L. Bean catalog to the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (back when it was just RF, not TERF per se). Spoiler: There is no secret to super-human strength. As her obsession with Eastern religion suggests, strength comes from sublimating the self, surrendering to the chaos of the universe, and in doing so, finding oneness with it. Easier said than done, but this book did make me want to take up some form of exercise again.