katiewilkins186

The most important thing to know about this book is that it probably won’t be what you expect. I was surprised by things including: Caitlin Moran’s frank discussions of all aspects of being a woman; how she defined feminism; and how completely and totally hilarious some of this book was. All of her philosophical musings on feminism and being a woman are tied together very nicely by stories she shares of her life. These are both the funniest bits and the thing that imposes chronological order on what would otherwise be a series of distinct essays. For a good idea of the topics and the tone of the book, I’d recommend the goodreads summary.

I don’t have a ton to say about this one except that I loved it. There was at least one chapter that I spent completely breathless I was laughing so hard. Nearly every page there was something so funny or paragraph that expressed something I’d felt so perfectly, that I wanted to run and share the book with someone immediately. I definitely wouldn’t share it with just anyone though, as the language often well beyond what most people would be comfortable using in front of their grandmother.

I should also mention for those of you scared off by a book about feminism, that the author’s brand of feminism certainly didn’t conform to my stereotypes. To me, feminism mostly sounds out-dated, largely because I’ve been fortunate enough to never encounter discrimination in the work place. However, I think she makes some very sound arguments that feminism is still both good and necessary. Obviously you can decide how you feel about it yourself, but I don’t think anyone would deny her arguments are compellingly written and thought provoking. I don’t know if a male reader would find it as enjoyable or interesting as I did though, so if you know of a good review by a male reader or are a male reader who’s read the book, please share!

This review first published at Doing Dewey.