HEARTBREAK
The Political Memoir of a Feminist Militants
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"The cry of a wounded creature ("I have a heart easily hurt") who cannot or will not let the wounds heal. They fuel her crusade." --Kirkus Reviews
ALWAYS INNOVATIVE, often controversial, and frequently polarizing, Andrea Dworkin has carved out a unique position as one of the women's movement's most influential figures, from the early days of consciousness- raising to the "post-feminist" present. A tireless defender of women's rights, especially of the rights of those who have been raped and assaulted, and a relentless critic of pornography, Dworkin is one of feminism's most rigorous minds and fiercest crusaders.
In Heartbreak, she reveals for the first time the personal side of her lifelong journey as activist and writer. By turns wry, spirited, and poignant, Dworkin tells the story of how she evolved from a childhood lover of music and books into a college activist, embraced her role as an international advocate for women, and emerged as a maverick thinker at odds with both the liberal left and the mainstream women's movement. The chronicle of a special life and its times, Heartbreak reveals the emotional price paid by a person who, from the age of six onwards, finds it impossible to compromise. Readers across the political spectrum will be engrossed by Dworkin's memories: refusing to sing Silent Night in grammar school, falling in love with books as a teenager at the local bookstore, fighting to rid Bennington College of parietals, giving away her money on the Orient Express en route to Crete, saving children in Amsterdam, speaking at a battered friend's funeral, fighting for prostituted women at a NOW meeting in New Orleans
In
this bittersweet memoir of falling in love with books, ideas, and
the fight for social justice, Dworkin displays a writer's genius for
expressing emotional truth and an intellectual's gift for conveying
the excitement of ideas and words. Beautifully written and surprisingly
intimate, Heartbreak is a portrait of a soul, and a mind, in
the making.
See this Heartbreak
review by Beth Ribet.
Book Description
A bittersweet memoir of falling in love with books, ideas, and the fight for social justice--from the sixties to the present--by one of the most brilliant feminist thinkers of our time.
Always innovative, often controversial, and frequently polarizing, Andrea Dworkin has carved out a unique position as one of the women's movement's most influential figures, from the early days of consciousness-raising to the "post-feminist" present. A tireless defender of women's rights, especially the rights of those who have been raped and assaulted, and a relentless critic of pornography, Dworkin is one of feminism's most rigorous minds and fiercest crusaders.
Now, in Heartbreak, Dworkin reveals for the first time the personal side of her lifelong journey as activist and writer. By turns wry, spirited, and poignant, Dworkin tells the story of how she evolved from a childhood lover of music and books into a college activist, embraced her role as an international advocate for women, and emerged as a maverick thinker at odds with both the liberal left and the mainstream women's movement. Throughout, she displays a writer's genius for expressing emotional truth and an intellectual's gift for conveying the excitement of ideas and words. Beautifully written and surprisingly intimate, Heartbreak is a portrait of a soul, and a mind, in the making.
From Hearthbreak:
"How did I become who I am? I have a heart easily hurt. I believed that cruelty was most often caused by ignorance. I thought that if everybody knew, everything would be different. I was a silly child who believed in the revolution. I was torn to pieces by segregation and Viet Nam. Apartheid broke my heart. Apartheid in Saudi Arabia still breaks my heart--I don't understand why every story about rising oil prices does not come with an addendum about the domestic imprisonment of women in the Gulf states. I can't be bought or intimidated because I'm cut down in the middle. I walk with women whispering in my ears. Every time I cry there's a name attached to each tear."
About the Author
Andrea Dworkin is one of the most controversial and influential feminist thinkers of our day. She has spoken at colleges, universities, and _rallies all over the world and is the co-author (with Catharine A. MacKinnon) of civil-rights legislation recognizing pornography as legally actionable sex discrimination. She is the author of thirteen books, including Pornography, Intercourse, and, most recently, Scapegoat. She lives in New York City.
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