The Mother of All Questions

by Rebecca Solnit

Overview

In a timely follow-up to her national bestseller Men Explain Things to Me, Rebecca Solnit offers indispensable commentary on women who refuse to be silenced, misogynistic violence, the fragile masculinity of the literary canon, the gender binary, the recent history of rape jokes, and much more.

In characteristic style, Solnit mixes humor, keen analysis, and powerful insight in these essays.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608467402
Publisher:	Haymarket Books
Publication date:	03/07/2017
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	624,311
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit is the author of eighteen or so books on feminism, western and indigenous history, popular power, social change and insurrection, wandering and walking, hope and disaster, including the books Men Explain Things to Me and Hope in the Dark, both also with Haymarket; a trilogy of atlases of American cities; The Faraway Nearby; A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities that Arise in Disaster; A Field Guide to Getting Lost; Wanderlust: A History of Walking; and River of Shadows, Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West (for which she received a Guggenheim, the National Book Critics Circle Award in criticism, and the Lannan Literary Award). A product of the California public education system from kindergarten to graduate school, she is a columnist at Harper's and a regular contributor to the Guardian.

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

The Mother of All Questions 3

1 Silence is Broken

A Short History of Silence 17

I The Ocean around the Archipelago 17

II Every Man an Island: Male Silence 27

III Silence: The Cages 38

IV The Flooded City 52

An Insurrectionary Year 69

Feminism: The Men Arrive 85

One Year after Seven Deaths 97

The Short Happy Recent History of the Rape Joke 105

2 Breaking the Story

Escape from the Five-Million-Year-Old Suburb 115

The Pigeonholes When the Doves Have Flown 123

80 Books No Woman Should Read 135

Men Explain Lolita to Me 141

The Case of the Missing Perpetrator 151

Giantess 159

Acknowledgments and Text Credits 171

Artwork Credits 175

Editorial Reviews

01/02/2017
The latest collection of essays from author and activist Solnit continues in the same vein as 2014’s popular Men Explain Things to Me with short, incisive essays that pack a powerful punch. This collection examines age-old philosophical questions: What does it mean to live a happy life? What is the role of art and entertainment in our day-to-day lives? How does language create myths about happiness and art?—from a contemporary, feminist perspective. As Solnit chronicles recent events, including comedian Amy Schumer’s parodies of rape culture, Esquire magazine’s list of 80 books every man should read, Gamergate, and the Isla Vista massacre, the book’s themes gain greater significance. Solnit argues that books, movies, and other forms of entertainment reinforce self-centered concepts of heroism and happiness that promote entitlement and decrease empathy. Solnit points out that women are frequent targets of this entitlement and decreased empathy, but she also credits men such as government whistle-blower Edward Snowden, stand-up comedian Hannibal Buress, and activist Richard Martinez, whose son was killed in a mass shooting, for standing up for their principles and carving out a less violent or self-centered definition of manhood. Chock-full of references to the work of women at the forefront of contemporary feminist thought, Solnit’s essays will stir minds and spark further investigation. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"There's a new feminist revolution – open to people of all genders – brewing right now and Rebecca Solnit is one of its most powerful, not to mention beguiling, voices."
–Barbara Ehrenreich

"These short, incisive essays that pack a powerful punch."
–Publishers Weekly

"A keen and timely commentary on gender and feminism. Solnit’s voice is calm, clear, and unapologetic; each essay balances a warm wit with confident, thoughtful analysis, resulting in a collection that is as enjoyable and accessible as it is incisive."
–Booklist

"A thought-provoking and important anthology."
–Library Journal

"Trenchant and hopeful, the book reveals that the ongoing work of righting the wrongs of patriarchy is only part of a much larger project of social justice for all people. As always, Solnit is eloquent and sharply insightful."
–Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

02/01/2017
Solnit (Men Explain Things to Me) has compiled a new collection of essays exploring the current U.S. feminist movement. An overarching theme of this intersectional essay collection is silence, specifically its role in suppressing women's stories and experiences. Solnit argues that silence has taken opportunities away from women and has enabled rape and domestic violence. She discusses prominent legal cases, such as those relating to Jian Ghomeshi, Bill Cosby, and the Isla Vista shootings. Additionally, silence (and its counterpart shame) lessens women's freedom and value by taking away their ability to tell their stories. A large portion of this book is devoted to men, specifically how their experiences inform and hinder feminism. The author demonstrates how repression of one's emotions in exchange for power have crippled men. Additional essays address misogyny and rape jokes in comedy as well as varied gender roles in literature, and the role of language in discussions of sexual assault and domestic violence. VERDICT This thought-provoking and important anthology will be of interest to anyone interested in gender and feminism.—Rebekah Kati, Durham, NC

Library Journal

2017-01-23
A distinguished cultural critic tackles "the binaries and boundaries of gender" while examining the continuing evolution of feminism.In her latest collection, Harper's contributing editor Solnit (Men Explain Things to Me, 2014, etc.) examines how women continue to struggle to make their voices heard in a violent, misogynist world. In the first section, the author deals with the act of silencing. Whether in professional situations involving unfair treatment or personal ones involving abuse or rape, patriarchal culture has discouraged women from speaking out against gender injustice. At the same time, men have also been forced into silence about their interior lives in exchange for "power and membership" in patriarchy. Yet women—and men—continue to make progress. Solnit points to the changes in attitude toward rape and how comedians like Tina Fey and Amy Schumer have openly challenged perpetrators. They have not succeeded in winning the war "for everyone to have their basic human rights respected," but they have helped turn the tide against acceptance of rape culture. Moreover, social initiatives like the Obama administration's 2014 "It's On Us" project to "get bystanders, particularly men," to protect potential victims of assault are positive signs of further change. In the second section of the book, the author focuses more on language used in discourse about women, which not only emphasizes dependency, but also overlooks how the concept of gender is built upon categories that exclude differences that transcend the male/female binary. She also offers commentary on how culturally iconic works—e.g., Lolita—continue to feed into ideas of women as "disposable…absent, or worthless." Others, like the 1956 film Giant, can be read to suggest that patriarchy can successfully be replaced by "some kind of open, negotiated reshuffling of everything." Trenchant and hopeful, the book reveals that the ongoing work of righting the wrongs of patriarchy is only part of a much larger project of social justice for all people. As always, Solnit is eloquent and sharply insightful.

Kirkus Reviews

Narrator Tanya Eby’s careful diction and smooth delivery are ideal for Rebecca Solnit’s powerful essays on feminism. Solnit simultaneously exhibits both anger and optimism about the world. Eby conveys the anger about the silencing of women through violence, fear, and rigid gender roles but sees hope in the “arrival of men (or something like that)” to the feminist movement. Solnit is also wry and witty—outlining 80 books no women should read as a somewhat tongue-in-cheek response to a famous ESQUIRE column listing books men should read. She illuminates the idiocy of language warning women about the dangers of alcohol and unwanted pregnancy or rape as if men are not involved. Eby keeps the listener’s constant attention with a brisk pace and an expressiveness that capture Solnit’s outrage, disbelief, occasional amusement, and rays of hope. A.B. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2017 - AudioFile