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by Amy Scholder (editor)
Buy on Amazon" In these daring essays, some of the most provocative writers of our time offer a private view on a public figure, and in doing so, reveal themselves. Original essays by Mary Gaitskill on Linda Lovelace, Rick Moody on Karen Dalton, Johanna Fateman on Andrea Dworkin, Hanne Blank on MFK Fisher, Kate Zambreno on Kathy Acker, Justin Vivian Bond on Karen Graham, Jill Nelson on Aretha Franklin, Zoe Pilger on Mary Gaitskill"--
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"Editor Amy Scholder had two questions for her contributors when she started assembling these meditations on a spectrum of famous women. “Who do you think about (maybe a little too often), who challenges, inspires, or outrages you? Who are you obsessed with?” Her writers answer in provocative, deep and revelatory ways. Author Mary Gaitskill’s essay on sex superstar Linda Lovelace becomes a profound inquiry into the nature of victimhood and truth-telling, and the self-described “trans-fabulous performance-activist” Justin Vivian Bond tells of growing up besotted with the Estee Lauder cosmetics model Karen Graham. Other writers — novelist Rick Moody, historian Hanne Blank, musician Johanna Fateman — explore how the presence of a famous person in one’s mind can torment, transform and inspire. Together, these essays defeat the vapidity of celebrity worship and raise the question: Who obsesses you?"
NPR Books We Love — 2014 · apps.npr.org