I'm a fairly avid reader. I enjoy mostly contemporary literature, but I like some of the classics, mostly literature by women, and Poe. I like Poe. But I have to say it... I am so tired of literature about men. I am not a man. I know there is a lot of good literature out there by and about men. I've read a lot of them. Everything is Illuminated is one of my favorite books. But so many books that are said to be the must-reads are by and/or about men, as if men are the universal representatives of humanity. I need good novels that show the deep and unashamed humanity of women.
Here are some good books I have read that have met my burning needs:
Wicked by Gregory Maguire (interesting, considering a man wrote it...)
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston
Emma by Jane Austen
Beloved by Alice Walker
Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson
I won't deny my feminist tendencies. I won't even try. I know how obsessed I am with feminism and gender equality and gender inclusive language and feminist issues. I love women - I do. I love the female culture, the female mind, the female body - I love it. I just do. So why am I finding so little good representation of us in literature? Where can I get the next good book??
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