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1860: Elizabeth Packard is facing a battle. Her husband of twenty-one years feels increasingly threatened—by Elizabeth’s intellect, independence, and unwillingness to stifle her own thoughts. So, one summer morning, he has her committed to an insane asylum. The conditions inside the hospital are horrific, but most disturbing is that Elizabeth is not the only sane woman confined to the institution. There are many rational women who tell the same story: they’ve been committed to keep them in line. But Elizabeth is about to discover that the merit of losing everything is that you then have nothing to lose…
The solstice has passed! Summer is upon us! And some new books, which is very exciting as always. We’ve got some especially good memoirs this week, so let’s go:
Antiman: A Hybrid Memoir by Rajiv Mohabir
If you’ve listened to For Real (or possibly read this newsletter), you know I am into memoirs trying something different, if only because we just have so many memoirs that it’s neat to see a new take on them. Mohabir grew up in the U.S. and in his memoir, “blends literary genres to tackle questions of caste, ethnicity, and sexuality, and to explore the author’s experiences as an Indo-Guyanese queer poet.” That’s so many things! He goes from India to Florida to New York City, where a cousin derogatorily calls him “antiman.” This just looks really good and interesting.
Cultish: The Language of Fanaticism by Amanda Montell
Sure, we’ve heard of cults, but do we understand their appeal? Like reeeeally understand it? Montell says nope! And that the appeal of cults does not lie in some nebulous brainwashing concept, but in the word choices of their leaders. She also discusses how many groups that could be described as cults are pretty harmless, and how humans tend towards them because we love to belong to groups (seems about right). It’s a pretty fascinating book, from the author of Wordslut.
The Natural Mother of the Child: A Memoir of Nonbinary Parenthood by Krys Malcolm Belc
Belc’s memoir looks at the gendered treatment of giving birth, and what nonbinary parenthood can look like. When he gave birth to his son, it “clarified his gender identity and allowed him to project a more masculine self. And yet, when his partner Anna adopted Samson, the legal documents listed Belc as ‘the natural mother of the child.'” I love the idea of how having a body can influence the perception of a family, and what shifting the way that has been can look like, and this just seems excellent.
How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning With the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith
I love landmarks and historical markers and anything drawing attention to the past and how it shaped our present. We don’t have many of those in America when it comes to our history with the enslavement of human beings. Smith takes you around the country to Monticello (Jefferson’s home), the Whitney Plantation, Angola Prison, a Confederate cemetery, and more, as he examines the legacy of slavery.
For more nonfiction new releases, check out the For Real podcast which I co-host with the excellent Kim here at Book Riot. If you have any questions/comments/book suggestions, you can find me on social media @itsalicetime. Until next time, enjoy those facts, fellow nerds.