I've been trying to figure out ways to practice my writing more and get a jump start on my writing career. About a month and a half ago, I remembered that a friend of mine is the editor of a neighborhood monthly newspaper and he was looking for a book reviewer. I thought to myself, I can do that. So, I emailed him and lo and behold, I now have a regular book review column in a monthly newspaper.
My first column appeared in this month's Uptown Neighborhood News. (My column is on page 11 of this pdf file.) In this column, I reviewed a pretty amazing book called Getting Off: Pornography and the End of Masculinity, by professor and academic Robert Jensen. I picked this book because the author will be reading at Magers & Quinn, a local bookstore in our neighborhood. I'm lucky that I happened upon this book, though, because I really liked it.
Since this is a monthly column, I'll be posting the pdfs each month, once they come out.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Jessica Fox-Wilson, Poet, Educator, Writer...and Book Reviewer?
Posted by Jessica at 5:40 PM
Labels: bibiliophilia, dream career, Publication
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7 Comments:
Excellent! Congratulations! I look forward to reading your reviews. :)
Congratulations. You made a great job of the book review (a tricky niche). My Masters is in Women's Studies, so I spent a lot of time thinking about pornography (in its many sneaky guises) and its insidious power to objectify/degrade. It can be a difficult subject to read around, but it's so important to be informed.
Hi Jeannine --
Thanks for your comments -- I'm really excited to have this reviewing opportunity.
Hi Jo --
When I was in college, I also took lots of women's studies classes. (I focused on feminist poetry and fiction in both undergrad and grad.) I've always been semi-ambivalent towards the porn issue, though, because I'm a free speech, pro-sex kind of person. But this book really laid out the argument in an irrefutable (I know I'm not spelling that right) way. I would strongly urge everyone to check it out!
Cudos to you !! Like your blog !
I I took essentially all the lit options too (why I chose it), so just a smattering of politics/history etc. I am also pro sex LOL, pro free speech but I think the sex industry is not a good place for women. If the work is being carried out by someone who is fully in touch with herself and enjoying it, fine, but so often the women who end up working in that industry (not just porn, the whole sex industry) are not educated and have low-self esteem and miserable lives.
Book reviews are a great opportunity to take your writing in a new direction through critical response to other writers. I am also a 9-5 poet who maintain a poetry blog at http://jonaslamb.wordpress.com but also in my post as a librarian I created a book review blog for people in the community to share their reviews. I've contributed several reviews as well and find this is a great way to chronicle more of what I have read.
oooh I'm behind on these dang comments...
Jo -- you should totally read the book. The author makes a similar argument to the one you're making. The industry is definitely NOT good for women, no matter how much they (we) enjoy sex.
Jonas -- you unearthed my reason for wanting to review books. I figure it's a great way for me to read, write, make connections, and get clips. I'll definitely check out your book review blog. :)
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