Life for a fat woman in Western culture is hard. Life for a vocal feminist who is also fat can be downright cruel. But Lindy West (How to Be a Person) doesn't let that stop her from standing up and speaking out on issues she's passionate about. She's battled Internet trolls, misogynistic comedians, fat-phobic supervisors and rude people on airplanes in an effort to change harmful societal beliefs. Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman is West's often funny, sometimes painful, always blunt story of life as an overweight feminist in a patriarchal world that values skinny, silent, subservient females.
West's bold, passionate insights point a bright spotlight on topics kept in the dark, whispered about or referred to in euphemisms. She proudly proclaims the details of her abortion, and expresses frustration and torment in her campaign against rape jokes. When she writes about body image, a stunning kaleidoscope of experiences crash and bump around on her stage of life then blend together to project a powerful realization:
"What if... I could just decide I was valuable and it would be true?... Denying people access to value is an incredibly insidious form of emotional violence, one that our culture wields aggressively and liberally to keep marginalized groups small and quiet. What if you could opt out of the game altogether?"
Lindy West changes the rules to play her game her way. Shrill is her story; it's also her encouragement to readers to join in the noise. With her moxie, there is potential for a huge, magnificent symphony. --Jen Forbus of Jen's Book Thoughts