Still Mad: American Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination Book Review

A good book does more than entertain. It opens doors, minds, and hearts.

Still Mad: American Women Writers and the Feminist Imagination, by Susan Gubar and Sandra M. Gilbert is the follow-up to their acclaimed 1979 book, The Madwoman in the Attic: The Woman Writer and the Nineteenth-Century Literary Imagination. Published last year, it starts in the 1950s and ends in 2020. It explores how women writers such as Erica Jong, Lorraine Hansberry, Betty Friedan, Sylvia Plath, and Margaret Atwood have used both fiction and nonfiction to explore what it is to be female in the modern world. Each writer, in her way, describes the contradictions, sexism, and obstacles that are placed in front of her that are simply due to being born a woman. They also use feminism as a way to call out the bullshit that men have used to prevent us from reaching our full potential.

I can’t think of a better way to celebrate International Women’s Day than to write a review of this book. I read their first book years ago and was blown away. My reaction to its sequel was the same. I loved it. It was powerful, it lit a fire under my proverbial behind, and it reminded me how far we still need to go. They take the energy from The Madwoman in the Attic and use it to propel the story forward. In doing so, Gubar and Gilbert inspire younger generations to take the torch from their hands and continue to fight for our rights.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely.

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Flashback Friday-A Raisin in the Sun (2008)

Sometimes, life presents us with a choice. We can either do what we need to do to survive or we can go for our dreams, no matter what the cost is.

In the 2008 TV movie A Raisin in the Sun (based on the award-winning play by Lorraine Hansberry), the Younger family is living in 1950’s Chicago, doing the best they can. Walter (Sean “Diddy” Combs) is barely making ends meet as a limo driver, but wants more out of life. His wife Ruth (Audra McDonald), in contrast to her husband, is satisfied with the direction her life has taken. Beneatha (Sanaa Lathan) is not only trying to become a doctor, but has to choose between two different men. While this is happening, Lena (Phylicia Rashad), the matriarch of the Younger family is waiting for an insurance check that could forever change the course of their lives.

A Raisin in the Sun made its debut nearly 60 years ago. Despite the fact that the play is 6 decades old, it is still as relevant today as it was in 1959. Not only the television movie an excellent adaptation, but Diddy surprised many with his acting abilities.

I recommend it.