B*tch: Bratty Prose
Written: Jun 10 '01
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Product Rating:
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Pros: brilliant, funny, witty, inspirational, swaggering, sneering, ...
Cons: rambling...but I'll tell you how to make the most of it.
The Bottom Line: Wurtzel manages to make even her writing style b*tchy, and that is by far the best quality of this book.
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| kiljoi's Full Review: Elizabeth Wurtzel - Bitch: In Praise of Difficult ... |
I purchased this 414 page monster on a whim one day. The red-on-black-and-white spine caught my eye as the word "B*tch" dared, and yet, welcomed me to check it out.
It was late 1999. Later I would discover that I had purchased the "cleaned-up" cover version featuring a vulnerable-but-defiant looking Wurtzel rather than her notorious topless one.
The cover doesn't make a bit of a difference. This book is unapologetically bratty and b*tchy in both content and style.
The goal of this book is ostensibly to detail the lives of "difficult women", but it does more than that. "B*tch" socks it to the frumpy feminist movement of the 70's that virtually poured cement into the p*ssy, attacks Denise Brown and her family for only recently coming out against OJ when they knew he was abusing Nicole, but it was a small price to pay when he was rich, presents Biblical bad girls such as Delilah and Tamar in a new and empathetic light, details crazy-sexy-cool loonies like Anne Sexton and Sylvia Plath (one salivates to know what Wurtzel would say about Angelina Jolie), reflects on Amy Fischer as a *gasp* victim, and even throws in some commentary about Kurt and Courtney and the way you can kill a person just by throwing up your hands.
Sure, some of her opinions and statements are a little--crazy, but for the most part, she's painfully dead-on. When she says that Clinton "has made being full of sh*t not just a mere peccadillo, but in fact the greater part of his personality," it just feels affirming to note that a feminist writer doesn't feel the need to censor herself for partisan reasons.
In fact, a lot of what Wurtzel says, many traditional feminists would scoff at and even be scared to say.
It's an awful lot to cover in one book, and if Wurtzel seems to ramble, just remember, you can take breaks and put this book down.
Wurtzel reportedly wrote this book under the influence of Ritalin and Cocaine. As such, this book feels like the literary version of methamphetamines.
Some people were put off by Wurtzel's rambling style. I, on the other hand, felt liberated by it.
I have always loathed the idea of outlining (though, at times I will admit it has saved me), and I kind of get the feeling that Wurtzel does too. "B*tch" is tangental and yet, surprisingly logical, flipping off the strict rules of journalistic-distance and literary structure.
"B*tch" is not the kind of book you read from cover to cover. One should read "B*tch" as if it were the Bible. I know of very few people who actually read from Genesis to Revelation -- that's why every Bible comes equipped with a "read the Bible in a year" plan, much like a diet. Instead, one should randomly select a page from "B*tch" and go from there until you get tired or are forced to put this book down. It's much more satisfying that way.
Wurtzel always has something interesting to say, but sometimes you just don't want to go through 400 pages with her.
So you put the book down, pick it up later and you're back to being inspired, slapped, spun-around and challenged yet again.
It's not that Wurtzel gets boring (Could she even wish to be?) It's just that reading "B*tch" is like hanging around a charismatic, yet self-destructive friend. You can only take so much and yet something always drags you back. Wurtzel manages to make even her writing style b*tchy, and that is by far the best quality of this book.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
kiljoi
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Member: Thermo Color
Location: Prescott, AZ
Reviews written: 184
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