Notes to Self
Published on 31. January 2019
Book
Hardback
224 pages
978-0-241-39364-2 (ISBN)
Description
'I am afraid of being the disruptive woman. And of not being disruptive enough. I am afraid. But I am doing it anyway.'
In this dazzling debut, Emilie Pine speaks powerfully from her painful personal experience - on the emotional labour of caring for her alcoholic father, on the unspeakable grief of miscarriage and infertility, on the social taboos around menstrual blood and female pain, on the ways young women use their own bodies as a weapon against themselves. Courageous, humane and uncompromising, devastatingly poignant and yet never self-pitying, these pieces investigate and challenge society's assumptions around pain, strength, resilience and identity, ultimately embracing joy and hope in the business of living.
In this dazzling debut, Emilie Pine speaks powerfully from her painful personal experience - on the emotional labour of caring for her alcoholic father, on the unspeakable grief of miscarriage and infertility, on the social taboos around menstrual blood and female pain, on the ways young women use their own bodies as a weapon against themselves. Courageous, humane and uncompromising, devastatingly poignant and yet never self-pitying, these pieces investigate and challenge society's assumptions around pain, strength, resilience and identity, ultimately embracing joy and hope in the business of living.
Reviews / Votes
An astonishingly fine book * Dublin Review of Books * Light on its feet and goes in deep * Deborah Levy * Wry, shocking, winningly frank . . . What is most striking about the collection is its universality. [These stories] urgently need to be told. Pine does so with an honesty and vigour that are always uplifting * Guardian * This compelling memoir crystallises the human experience and gives words to the feelings you never knew you had * Sunday Times Style * A truly brilliant writer . . . A great book * Evening Standard * A brilliant collection * David Nicholls * An exceptional collection of essays . . . Pine's sharp, unadorned writing style allows the unobscured truths to rise to the surface * Refinery29 * What resonates is Pine's articulation of the small, cumulative frustrations of life as a woman * FT *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
College/higher education
Dimensions
Height: 204 mm
Width: 138 mm
Thickness: 21 mm
Weight
289 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-39364-2 (9780241393642)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Emilie Pine is Associate Professor of Modern Drama at University College Dublin, Ireland. She has published widely as an academic and critic. Notes to Self is her first collection of personal essays and the winner of The Butler Literary Award 2018.