Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible--like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you--writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but.

From a painfully shy childhood in which she tried, unsuccessfu......more

Coming of age in a culture that demands women be as small, quiet, and compliant as possible--like a porcelain dove that will also have sex with you--writer and humorist Lindy West quickly discovered that she was anything but.

From a painfully shy childhood in which she tried, unsuccessfully, to hide her big body and even bigger opinions; to her public war with stand-up comedians over rape jokes; to her struggle to convince herself, and then the world, that fat people have value; to her accidental activism and never-ending battle royale with Internet trolls, Lindy narrates her life with a blend of humor and pathos that manages to make a trip to the abortion clinic funny and wring tears out of a story about diarrhea.

With inimitable good humor, vulnerability, and boundless charm, Lindy boldly shares how to survive in a world where not all stories are created equal and not all bodies are treated with equal respect, and how to weather hatred, loneliness, harassment, and loss--and walk away laughing.

provocatively dissects what it means to become self-aware the hard way, to go from wanting to be silent and invisible to earning a living defending the silenced in all caps.(less)

Lindy West is a columnist at

, a contributor to

, and a freelance writer whose work focuses on feminism, social justice, humor, and body image. Her work has appeared in

,

,

,

,

,

, and others. She is the ......more

Lindy West is a columnist at

, a contributor to

, and a freelance writer whose work focuses on feminism, social justice, humor, and body image. Her work has appeared in

,

,

,

,

,

, and others. She is the founder of

, an advice blog for teens, as well as the reproductive rights destigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion.

Lindy West is a columnist at

, a contributor to

, and a freelance writer whose work focuses on feminism, social justice, humor, and body image. Her work has appeared in

,

,

,

,

,

, and others. She is the founder of

, an advice blog for teens, as well as the reproductive rights destigmatization campaign #ShoutYourAbortion. (less)