Inspired by Your Browsing History. Garitt Rocha and David Hodgson. Christina Hellmich and Line Clausen Pedersen. Life Between Heaven and Earth.
Andrew Barone and George Anderson. Say What You Mean. Tantra of the Yoga Sutras. Alan Finger and Wendy Newton. Blood in the Water. Anti-Science and the Assault on Democracy. The Kingdom of the Dwarfs. David Wenzel and Robb Walsh. The Illustrated Biography-Beyond the Fantasy. Luc Petronille and Florent Gorges. Well, good for her. I certainly agree that if a woman is getting out of a bad marriage, there is no reason why she should be prostrated with grief. Roiphe complains about her friends' concern for her emotional wellbeing at such lengths that one starts to feel that the lady protests too much.
And her inference, that the people who seem to insist most on her being miserable are the ones who are trapped in unhappy marriages, simply sounds defensive. In her essay on children born out of wedlock, she seems to think that the fact that she had a "love child" makes her some type of social outcast. Some of the essays are just plain uninteresting.
‘In Praise of Messy Lives’ by Katie Roiphe
Her travelogue about a trip to Vietnam, with the obligatory analysis of sex tourism, was a yawn. So was the mini-memoir about how she once slept with the pseudo-boyfriend of a friend of hers, thereby breaking up the friendship. I couldn't figure out why she was friends with the girl, why she slept with the boyfriend, and why this was worth writing about.
Then there was a piece about how celebrity profiles in supermarket tabloids all use the same vocabulary and concepts. No one had noticed that before? The pieces that I enjoyed most, were the ones about literary analysis. And that is probably because I know little about that, and therefore had no opinion at all about what she wrote.
In summary, if you can deal with Ms. Roiphe's affectations, and her pretension that her personal experience is somehow representative of that of all women of "her generation" a frequently used phrase in her essays , you can have some fun with this book. Otherwise, read Katha Pullitt. Mar 29, Glenn Sumi rated it really liked it Shelves: Or at least squarely in the like and admire camp. The book is divided into four parts: The handful of essays about the internet seem slight a day-by-day account about not being online?
Her essay on incest in recent novels is depressing and dead-on, and her piece contrasting sex scenes in novels by the old guard white male establishment Roth, Updike, Mailer, Bellow and the new generation Chabon, Franzen, Kunkel, Eggers is refreshing and insightful. She also walks the walk.
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And a haunting essay about a trip to Vietnam and Cambodia with her now ex husband explores the uneasy connection between East and West, tourist and subject and seller and the person sold to. In Praise Of Messy Lives deserves lots of praise — and readers. May 14, Antigone rated it liked it Shelves: My first encounter with Katie Roiphe was her release of Uncommon Arrangements: I thought this was an exemplary study of the personal relationships of several literary legends, loosely tied together by the commentary of Virginia Woolf who seemed to know them all.
I've recommended this book and still do, despite the fact that it can be tough to obtain on occasion. I was then, and remain today, ignorant of her labors in th My first encounter with Katie Roiphe was her release of Uncommon Arrangements: I was then, and remain today, ignorant of her labors in the feminist arena and her various writings for newspapers and magazines. These appear to have fostered some antagonistic feeling. Roiphe-haters they're called, and there are enough of them around to remark upon.
Roiphe calls attention to this faction of her readership at the start of this collection of essays. She is mystified but accepts the probability that her writing makes a lot of people uncomfortable. I would refine that idea and confine it to the writing she does on the current culture. It would be difficult, for example, to read the essays she's written here on parenting were I a parent in her orbit. Some of her observations are unkind, and not reinforced with solidly objectifying provisos. In other words, it would be easy to take this stuff personally. I don't know that this is a reason to hate her, though.
Or to turn away from such a distinctly unusual voice and perspective on life. I think there's a place for annoyance in reading. I think it's important to feel that, and to react to it; to express an objection and, in the process, exercise those reasoning muscles that keep the mind in play. Righteous indignation is motivating - and you just don't often get that from people who find you bewitching and spectacular.
It's instinctual to surround ourselves with those who accept us and share our outlook, yet when a challenge is sought the odds are great that it will come from those who don't. There's benefit to be had from authors with whom we take issue, and I've benefited a bit right here. For instance, I'm not sure why Anais Nin wasn't referenced in the essay on the upsurge of incest in literature. I considered it ironic that Didion was charged with reticence to reveal her truth while Roiphe was, at the same time, resistant to revealing her true opinion of Didion. And I don't agree with her contention that, for all of Sontag's dedicated strength and forcefulness of character, she had to remind herself to take a bath because she found herself "so flustered by soap and water.
The essay on Jane Austen was lovely and tugged me toward my copy of Kafka's Letters to Felice for further examination of the fear of what marriage might cost Art. Many other subjects were piquantly engaged.
In Praise of Messy Lives
Roiphe is a highly-skilled writer - who will probably tick you off. Is she worth it? That's a question you'll have to answer for yourself. Sep 23, Katherine rated it really liked it Shelves: I am sheltered in the fact that I don't have much of an internet presence aside from a blog and this account.
I would avoid email if I could.
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And thanks to years lost in slacking off and binge drinking, I'm not entirely caught up yet on either my classic feminist theory or many of its current day counterparts. So I consider myself lucky enough, whether from ignorance or apathy, to be unaware of all except the existence of a certain sentiment of hatred surrounding Katie Roiphe.
I decided to self I am sheltered in the fact that I don't have much of an internet presence aside from a blog and this account.
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I decided to self impose a google blackout on her name until I finished this collection, which further helped to keep my objectivity intact. So this is a pure review of this collection of essays, and not of Katie Roiphe herself, whose vague scandals and controversies I'll remain ignorant of until I finish wiring this review. She does address some of the reactions of others, in essays about angry commenters and twitter feuds and some riotous people on gawker, in the particularly strong internet section of this collection, but doesn't really discuss much of what riled them up so much in the first place.
On the whole, I enjoyed the essays. Those that aren't such big supporters of Roiphe herself will not be able to deny, after reading this book which I doubt they will that she is extremely intelligent and articulate, well-read, and well-versed in theories which she may or may not agree with. These things aren't what makes her a gifted writer, but they are what strengthens her arguments and allows her to provide copious contextual and quotational evidence that makes it difficult not to at least explore the points she makes.
The essay on Joan Didion will upset a lot of people. As a Didion disciple myself, I cringed a few times. But a more thorough read should allow readers to see that Roiphe is not condemning Didion to irrelevancy and accusing her of exhaustively repetitive and deceptively calculated prose style, she is more focused on those up-and-coming imitators of what we come to recognize as "Didionesque.
Another of my favorites was an essay on the sudden and seemingly unending discussions of sexual assault and, more prominently, incest, in our modern literary cannon. It's as if Roiphe has realized that we've hit upon the last undiscovered, and therefore sacred, taboo, and are now, as writers, exploiting it in a desperate attempt to make a "heartfelt" read: Roiphe leaves unsaid but certainly implies, "What will we do when we run out of things to be shocked by? If not, they'll probably read everything as a way to confirm what they already "know" and feel about Roiphe.
Now, I'm off to google and periodical search and youtube what I've missed. Hopefully I'll be able to keep my own objectivity intact afterwards. Aug 18, Tanya rated it it was amazing. Let's say you are a suburban house wife with a lot of questions. Questions like "Is this really all there is?
Let's say you are the mom who is so fucking thankful to be friends with the dad who actually brings mixed drinks in his thermos to back to school night and pours fo Let's say you are a suburban house wife with a lot of questions. Let's say you are the mom who is so fucking thankful to be friends with the dad who actually brings mixed drinks in his thermos to back to school night and pours for all his friends, because, seriously, fourth grade art really is more interesting when you've had a drink or two.
Or the mom, who, your daughter is happy to tell everyone, "has a real potty mouth" or as you'd say it, "swears like a sailor. Let's say you are just a little, vaguely worried that our obsessions with the glittering things: Dear Reader, if any of these are you, before you crack the cover of "In Praise of Messy Lives", be sure you want to scratch that itch In Praise of Messy Lives is a collection of essays that explore the 'narrow-minded conventions' that govern the way we live in society today.
I picked the book up because I liked the title and I liked the concept of what the essays would be about. Unfortunately, this book isn't really for me as it isn't delivering in the way I expected. I feel like the book was just an opportunity for the author to rant her problems and observations, rather than looking at both sides of an idea and coming to a c In Praise of Messy Lives is a collection of essays that explore the 'narrow-minded conventions' that govern the way we live in society today.
I feel like the book was just an opportunity for the author to rant her problems and observations, rather than looking at both sides of an idea and coming to a conclusion. Ultimately that's what an essay is about, right? But it was more 'here's what I don't like, and here's what I think about it'. I also don't understand why half of the topics were in this collection of essays, as they weren't relevant; or at least not what I would consider an exploration of a typical convention that 'governs us today'.
Oct 23, Bonnie Brody rated it it was amazing. I just finished reading In Praise of Messy Lives: I found it to be enjoyable and intellectually stimulating. Since she writes one of her essays on people who comment on articles could this be similar to those of us who review books of essays?
In Praise of Messy Lives: Essays by Katie Roiphe | theranchhands.com: Books
I chose to read and finish the book, therefore my comments should reflect that. Roiphe writes about a wide range of topics. They include single motherhood and the public's perception of single mothers and their children; divorce and its impact on 'family'; betrayal; how great male writers write about sex; the fact that there has not been a comprehensive history of women's writing in America; the role of women behind great men; the impersonal nature of Joan Didion's memoirs; the fragility of Susan Sontag beneath her strong exterior; John Updike's being perceived as a misogynistic writer; Mad Men on TV; the popularity of Fifty Shades of Gray; Maureen Dowd; the repetitiveness and similarity of articles about movie stars; women not liking Hillary Clinton; parents who try to have perfect children are doomed for failure.
This is only a small portion of the issues and topics that Ms. As you can see, they are varied and interesting. My two favorite essays were the ones on Graham Greene and writing about incest. In the essay about Graham Greene, she discusses her own personal interest in the writer and how she reflected on him during her travels to the far east. She explores the concept of transactions, especially how female companionship is so often for sale. In her essay about incest, she is very hard on Jane Smiley and her book A Thousand Acres which is one of my favorite novels.
Roiphe examines the theme of incest in literature and how writers first wrote about how horrible men were. This led to writing about men as monsters. Overall, I had fun reading this book and looked forward to the next topic once I finished an essay. The book is not politically correct which I appreciate and the writing is fresh and not all that academic. It is a book that is accessible to anyone with a mind. In assembling this collection, Roiphe and her publisher evidently chose what they regarded as her best work. Periodical journalism is of its nature perishable stuff.
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