Difficult Women (book)

Difficult Women is a 2017 short story collection by Roxane Gay.[1]

Difficult Women
AuthorRoxane Gay
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreShort fiction
PublisherGrove
Publication date
January 3, 2017
Pages272
ISBN978-0-8021-2539-2

Content

In Vogue, Julia Fesenthal characterized Difficult Women as "a misogynist's taxonomy of the opposite sex. On the narrator's short list: loose women, frigid women, crazy women, mothers, and, finally, dead girls," depicted in stories "woven through with strands of magical realism."[2]

Development and publication

Gay has described being challenged by publishers in the development of the collection owing to the difficult material the book covers. Speaking at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Gay recounted, "Editors said, 'we love [Difficult Women] but it makes me want to kill myself.'"[3]

Grove Press published the 272-page collection on January 3, 2017.[4]

Reception

Difficult Women received favorable reviews from critics.[5][6][7] Reviewing the collection in The Washington Post, Megan Mayhew Bergman said Gay's "real gift to readers in Difficult Women is her ability to marry her well-known intellectual concerns with good storytelling."[8] In USA Today, Jaleesa M. Jones gave Difficult Women four (of four) stars, noting Gay's "deft touch with how ... intersecting identities mold and shape women’s experiences."[9]

References
  1. French, Agatha (May 11, 2017). "Roxane Gay and Randa Jarrar talk Twitter, 'Difficult Women' and kink in L.A." Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  2. Felsenthal, Julia (January 3, 2017). "Roxane Gay on Writing Difficult Women and Her Outlook on 2017". Vogue. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  3. Kellogg, Carolyn (April 23, 2017). "Author Roxane Gay explains the difficulty in trying to publish 'Difficult Women'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  4. "Fiction Book Review: Difficult Women by Roxane Gay. Grove, $25 (272p) ISBN 978-0-8021-2539-2". Publishers Weekly. October 24, 2016. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  5. Newman, Sandra (February 10, 2017). "Difficult Women by Roxane Gay review – bold feminist stories". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  6. James, Anna (January 12, 2017). "Roxane Gay's new book 'Difficult Women' proves her power". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  7. Grady, Constance (January 3, 2017). "In Roxane Gay's Difficult Women, you're either difficult or you're dead". Vox. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
  8. Bergman, Megan Mayhew (January 3, 2017). "Roxane Gay's powerful new story collection, 'Difficult Women'". The Washington Post. Retrieved June 22, 2017.
  9. Jones, Jaleesa M. (January 3, 2017). "Roxane Gay's 'Difficult Women' make an impression". USA Today. Retrieved February 13, 2018.
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