The mix of the personal and the political is where Without Exception truly shines, as Houston writes with candor and urgency about her experience of abuse, abortion, and the freedom to choose her own path in life. A personal reckoning that lays bare the heart of the fight for reproductive justice, and an urgent and heartfelt reminder to give and receive love and mercy to each other—and to ourselves.”
—SHELF AWARENESS
“With recurring themes of safety, freedom, and the lack thereof, Houston captures the urgency of our current moment in a country that is growing increasingly hostile to the rights of women and other traditionally marginalized groups.”
—BOOKLIST
“A story told with unflinching honesty. I thank Pam Houston for this timely and timeless book.”
—CAMILLE T. DUNGY, Soil: The Story of a Black Mother's Garden
“Houston has written this book with a demotic unpretentiousness and an irreducible clarity that can only come with having walked the walk, spending years doing the kind of quiet behind-the-scenes lifework that matures the spirit. Houston says ugly truths she doesn’t need to say, things no one would fault her for leaving out, because she knows there’s a reader somewhere who will find the world more hospitable for having read them. To me, that's rigor. That’s love.”
—KAVEH AKBAR, Martyr!
“Tender and ferocious, Houston weaves a deeply human story about what it means and what it takes—for women, for all of us—to be free.”
—NINA SIMON, Mother Daughter Murder Night
“A full-throated, unapologetic anthem bringing reproductive rights into galactic song. This is a body story from the inside out told with eloquence, immediacy, rage, and courage. Houston's writing is vivid and clear and filled with wisdom.”
—LIDIA YUKNAVITCH, Thrust
“One of the most urgent texts of our time, Without Exception is not only for fertile people in the United States but for everyone who understands that full humanity is inextricable from bodily autonomy. Houston cuts through political doublespeak that upholds patriarchy and white supremacy, forging connections between abuses against vulnerable bodies and the annihilation of our planet, yet somehow never fails to leave room for the radical, wild joy of what is possible when we refuse to be silenced.”
—GINA FRANGELLO, Blow Your House Down
"Houston writes about difficult and beautiful things with a kind of precision and lyricism that few writers can achieve. She has written an important book, a powerful book, one that challenges the way we think about choices, compassion, and resilience.”
—BRANDON HOBSON, The Removed
“Deeply personal, taboo-busting, Without Exception argues that abortion is a basic health right, motherhood is a choice, and we need to fight like hell for the freedom to make these decisions.”
—JULIE BUCKLES, Honest Dog Books
"A miracle, a revelation, a revolution on the page. Houston tells the stories that every woman, and girl, and citizen of the earth, needs to hear. A ruthless, tender, urgent dispatch that travels to the heart of our struggle as a species. It will leave you transformed, inspired, braver than you were before.”
—STEVE ALMOND, All the Secrets of the World
“Without Exception arrived precisely at the moment when we needed to hear the message that Houston has dedicated her brave life to crafting.”
—FENTON JOHNSON, Keeping Faith
