A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer: Writings to Stop Violence Against Women and Girls

Bys: Howard Zinn, Erin Cressida Wilson, Michael Eric Dyson, et al.

Book Overview

Selections from the "Until the Violence Stops" Festival Featuring writings by Abiola Abrams . Edward Albee . Tariq Ali . Maya Angelou . Periel Aschenbrand . Patricia Bosworth . Nicole Burdette . Kate Clinton . Kimberle Crenshaw . Michael Cunningham . Edwidge Danticat . Ariel Dorfman . Mollie Doyle . Slavenka Drakulic . Michael Eric Dyson . Dave Eggers . Kathy Engel . Eve Ensler . Jane Fonda . Carol Gilligan . Jyllian Gunther . Suheir Hammad . Christine House . Marie Howe . Carol Mich le Kaplan . Moises Kaufman . Michael Klein . Nicholas Kristof . James Lecesne . Elizabeth Lesser . Mark Matousek . Deena Metzger . Susan Miller . Winter Miller . Susan Minot . Robin Morgan . Kathy Najimy . Lynn Nottage . Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy . Sharon Olds . Hanan al-Shaykh . Anna Deavere Smith . Diana Son . Monica Szlekovics . Robert Thurman . Betty Gale Tyson . Alice Walker . Jody Williams . Erin Cressida Wilson . Howard Zinn This groundbreaking collection, edited by author and playwright Eve Ensler, features pieces from "Until the Violence Stops," the international tour that brings the issue of violence against women and girls to the forefront of our consciousness. These diverse voices rise up in a collective roar to break open, expose, and examine the insidiousness of brutality, neglect, a punch, or a put-down. Here is Edward Albee on S&M; Maya Angelou on women's work; Michael Cunningham on self-mutilation; Dave Eggers on a Sudanese abduction; Carol Gilligan on a daughter witnessing her mother being hit; Susan Miller on raising a son as a single mother; and Sharon Olds on a bra. These writings are inspired, funny, angry, heartfelt, tragic, and beautiful. But above all, together they create a true and profound portrait of this issue's effect on every one of us. With information on how to organize an "Until the Violence Stops" event in your community, A Memory, a Monologue, a Rant, and a Prayer is a call to the world to demand an end to violence against women. "In the current era, it takes some brain racking to think of anyone else doing anything quite like Ensler. She's a countercultural consciousness-raiser, an empowering figure, a truth-teller." -Chicago Tribune

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B005Q5V5XK
• ISBN13: 9780345497918
• Release Date: May 2007
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.53 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.6" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Great Metamorphosis for Eve Ensler's Work

I help to produce our college's production of _The Vagina Monologues_ every year. We love Eve Ensler's work, including _The Good Body_. This collection by several authors and edited by Eve Ensler is even better in some ways, because the many voices in this work speak for themselves. There are voices from many points of view, including men, and all of them speak about violence against women in some way. The inclusion of men is terrific. Every year we have to find alternative ways for the men in our college to participate in our production, and this always leads to discussion of inclusion. Well, here it is--and many of these writers, male and female are amazing. If there's a critique to mount against this work, I guess it would be that its very nature means that the pieces are generally negative--how could they be anything else, given the theme? There is some humor and some uplift, and I certainly don't want to suggest that you shouldn't read it, because you should. We eagerly await Eve's next project!

Ensler examines violence against women

I read this book at the gym and found that I really wished that I had a pack of tissue with me. Ensler's anthology is at times painful to read- the vignettes are harrowing and will leave the reader with a sense of sadness. I found that I kept on leafing to the back of the book to read the contributors' bios. I wish that the bios were after each poem/essay. This book is not a sunny, fun read, but a heavy one. The audience for this book is both a lay and academic audience. I would actually like to hear it on cd. I can't help but wonder if the pieces would be more powerful that way (much like the _Good Body_ is better on CD). Overall, I think the anthology can educate people about the seemingly everyday wickedness concerning violence against women and girls. I think that some folks don't understand how pervasive violence is in our lives, yet we don't talk about it. Kudos to Ensler for continuing to be such a great feminist artist, who uses her creative endeavors to educate.