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Men Explain Things to Me and Other Essays (2014)

by Rebecca Solnit

Other authors: See the other authors section.

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6042038,642 (4)179
Literary Criticism. Sociology. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML:

The National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author delivers a collection of essays that serve as the perfect "antidote to mansplaining" (The Stranger).

In her comic, scathing essay "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.

She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, "He's trying to kill me!"

This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf's embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.

"In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized." The New York Times

"Essential feminist reading." The New Republic

"This slim book hums with power and wit." Boston Globe

"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society." San Francisco Chronicle

"Essential." Marketplace

"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions." Salon

.… (more)
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» See also 179 mentions

English (16)  Italian (1)  French (1)  Dutch (1)  German (1)  All languages (20)
Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)
I did not want to miss Solnit's essays, so this book helped me catch up on some of them. While some of the offerings are more interesting than others, I read and enjoyed them all. ( )
  mykl-s | Jul 24, 2023 |
I hate to give this only two stars, but there wasn’t much to this small book. As a woman holding a public office, I frequently have men explain things to me in belittling and condescending ways. There’s so much more Solnit could have explored on this topic beyond the fairly thin title essay. There are better books on feminism out there. ( )
  eringill | Dec 25, 2022 |
Passionate and beautifully written

And sadly, it's not dated.

I'm just not one to read a book of essays straight through. Anybody else would probably give it 5 stars. ( )
  DocWood | Nov 20, 2022 |
First of all, the title alone... YES! I'm an Ivy League educated fully bilingual woman who has lived all over the world ... and yet, so many men attempt to explain things to me all the time. I buddy read this with a close friend and as she said, it's the kind of book where I was nodding along constantly. Nodding emphatically! I'm fortunate to have as mentors several women who support me in addressing toxic masculinity and the patriarchy, and they have done so at various stages of my life and career, and reflect my experiences back to me. This book does the same, and it is so important. She addresses both the blatant and the insidious ways in which men attempt to silence and control women. It's a quick listen, and an engaging one. I rarely read nonfiction (less than 10 books/year versus several hundred novels) and I'm so glad this book crossed my path. Recommend.
  starlight-glimmer | Nov 13, 2021 |
I've read the first essay before in the internet, so I had some expectations from this book. I think that in the end was my issue, I might've liked it better had I not expected things. The essay about men explaining things was still good, as were some others, but I felt that the quality varied a bit. Also, there was some repetition and I think the subjects jumped a bit. I think this was collected from blog posts, so it's understandable, but I have seen better collections.

Also I feel that if you talk about colonialism that was done by European countries in this kind of volume, it feels a bit hypocrite not to discuss the new form of colonialism done by US in many countries. For me, the essay about colonialism and IMF was the weakest one in the collection. While I don't really disagree, I was a bit disappointed how it was written. I think the essays were better when they were more personal topics.

Still, I think this is an important collection, especially since the one essay started the whole mansplaining discussion. Also the discussion on rape culture and how society raises men who feel entitled to control others, and especially women, was really on point. I feel that all the topics raised in the book were important, but the quality of writing/arguments were better in some than in others. But it's a quick read and if one is used to reading blogs, this is very familiar writing style. ( )
  RankkaApina | Feb 22, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 16 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (3 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Solnit, Rebeccaprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Bell, Luci ChristianNarratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Espasa, MarinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Fernández, Ana TeresaPhotographersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
MĂĽnch, BettinaÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Pruis, MarjaIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Razum, KathrinÜbersetzersecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Tollenaar, HesterTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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Dedication
For the grandmothers, the levelers, the dreamers, the men who get it, the young women who keep going, the older ones who opened the way, the conversations that don't end, and a world that will let Ella Nachimovitz (born January 2014) bloom to her fullest
First words
I still don't know why Sallie and I bothered to go to that party in the forest slope above Aspen.
Quotations
The difference between these online gamers and the Taliban men who, last October, tried to murder fourteen-year-old Malala Yousafzai for speaking out about the right of Pakistani women to education is one of degree. Both are trying to silence and punish women for claiming voice, power, and the right to participate. Welcome to Manistan. "The Longest War"
Kindness and gentleness never had a gender, and neither did empathy. "The Longest War"
Every woman who appears wrestles with the forces that would have her disappear. She struggles with the forces that would tell her story for her, or write her out of the story, the genealogy, the rights of man, the rule of law. The ability to tell your own story, in words or images, is already a victory, already a revolt. "Grandmother Spider"
It's the job of writers and explorers to see more, to travel light when it comes to preconception, to go into the dark with their eyes open. "Woolf's Darkness"
To me, the grounds for hope are simply that we don't know what will happen next, and that the unlikely and the unimaginable transpire quite regularly. "Woolf's Darkness"
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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Information from the German Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.
Erweiterte Neuausgabe mit 2 neuen und bislang unveröffentlichten Essays
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References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (2)

Literary Criticism. Sociology. Women's Studies. Nonfiction. HTML:

The National Book Critics Circle Award–winning author delivers a collection of essays that serve as the perfect "antidote to mansplaining" (The Stranger).

In her comic, scathing essay "Men Explain Things to Me," Rebecca Solnit took on what often goes wrong in conversations between men and women. She wrote about men who wrongly assume they know things and wrongly assume women don't, about why this arises, and how this aspect of the gender wars works, airing some of her own hilariously awful encounters.

She ends on a serious note— because the ultimate problem is the silencing of women who have something to say, including those saying things like, "He's trying to kill me!"

This book features that now-classic essay with six perfect complements, including an examination of the great feminist writer Virginia Woolf's embrace of mystery, of not knowing, of doubt and ambiguity, a highly original inquiry into marriage equality, and a terrifying survey of the scope of contemporary violence against women.

"In this series of personal but unsentimental essays, Solnit gives succinct shorthand to a familiar female experience that before had gone unarticulated, perhaps even unrecognized." The New York Times

"Essential feminist reading." The New Republic

"This slim book hums with power and wit." Boston Globe

"Solnit tackles big themes of gender and power in these accessible essays. Honest and full of wit, this is an integral read that furthers the conversation on feminism and contemporary society." San Francisco Chronicle

"Essential." Marketplace

"Feminist, frequently funny, unflinchingly honest and often scathing in its conclusions." Salon

.

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Book description
Contents; Updated edition with two new essays:
Men explain things to me
The longest war
Worlds collide in a luxury suite: some thoughts on the IMF, global injustice, and a stranger on a train
In praise of threat: what marriage equality really means
Grandmother spider
Woolf's darkness: embracing the inexplicable
Cassandra among the creeps
YesAllWomen: feminists rewrite the story
Pandora's box and the volunteer police force.
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