A review by rachelnevada
Sex and the Single Woman: 24 Writers Update Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic for a New Era by Haley Swanson, Eliza Smith
I picked up this book immediately after reading Morgan Parker's "Confessions of a Perpetually Single Woman" in Elle. (It was so achingly resonant). (I've recommended it to everyone).
I'm not sure what I was expecting the remaining 23 essays to encapsulate (in fact I didn't think much about it at all), but I was wonderfully and pleasantly surprised. The subtitle, "24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic," does little to convey the breadth and depth of these essays. There are entries by transwomen, by other queer people, by sex workers, by women in their late sixties, by disabled women. They talk about love affairs and being virgins and the glory of having your own apartment (and the vulnerability of sharing an apartment). There are women who are mothers, women on IVF, women who never want to have children in their lives. Women who are happy to be single, women who are no longer single, women who are desperately lonely and vulnerable enough to share that. All of these essays written by amazing, fantastic writers including Nichole Perkins, Keah Brown, and Kristen Arnett.
I feel confident saying there's a little something in here for everyone (and it's definitely worth the read!). (Or at the very least, please read Morgan Parker's essay, for the love of god!!)
I'm not sure what I was expecting the remaining 23 essays to encapsulate (in fact I didn't think much about it at all), but I was wonderfully and pleasantly surprised. The subtitle, "24 Writers Reimagine Helen Gurley Brown's Cult Classic," does little to convey the breadth and depth of these essays. There are entries by transwomen, by other queer people, by sex workers, by women in their late sixties, by disabled women. They talk about love affairs and being virgins and the glory of having your own apartment (and the vulnerability of sharing an apartment). There are women who are mothers, women on IVF, women who never want to have children in their lives. Women who are happy to be single, women who are no longer single, women who are desperately lonely and vulnerable enough to share that. All of these essays written by amazing, fantastic writers including Nichole Perkins, Keah Brown, and Kristen Arnett.
I feel confident saying there's a little something in here for everyone (and it's definitely worth the read!). (Or at the very least, please read Morgan Parker's essay, for the love of god!!)