Wanting

November 14, 2022
Essayists Kahn and McMasters reunite after editing This Is the Place to deliver an impassioned anthology of women’s perspectives on desire. “Our desires—and speaking them aloud—make us powerful,” contend Kahn and McMasters in their introduction, compiling the perspectives of women “parents and pilots, PhDs and porn connoisseurs” on what it means to want. Explaining the excitement of trying new foods, creative writing teacher Michelle Wildgen relates that “I wanted to eat, yes, but more than anything I was hungry to know” about unfamiliar dishes and the locales they come from. Poet Rena Priest contemplates her Native American ancestry and culture, discussing her wish for the decolonization of Native American land and for her to not have to “overcome stereotypes” to be treated with respect. “Can a dyke wear a dick and just have some damn fun?” asks essayist Amy Gall as she unpacks the complex gender dynamics of women wanting to have sex using strap-ons that resemble penises. The wide-ranging essays reflect the diversity of their authors while sharing a captivating rawness and sincerity. The result is a striking and powerful compendium on the multifaceted nature of longing.

December 15, 2022
Women writers present vastly varying perspectives and journeys of the meaning, cost, and fulfillment of their wishes. Kahn and McMasters, editors of This Is the Place, take a similar tack in this second compendium of personal essays. Their introduction lays out their sincere yet sappy aims--e.g., "to create a space for women to interrogate and luxuriate in their desire." The editors cast a notably wide net, although several essays would have benefitted from tighter editing. While the majority of pieces are engaging, frequent unoriginal word choices wear thin--desire appears nearly 250 times. The contributors explore myriad topics related to wanting objects (a $500 pair of cowboy boots, a dildo) in addition to experiences, which run the gamut from criminal to spiritual but are predominantly sexual. Tracing longings to their roots, many of the essayists deploy powerful metaphors that possess the capacity to connect women to themselves. The cowboy boots, for example, signify far more than footwear. "The opposite of a cowboy is an Indian woman," writes Rena Priest. "I exist in the aftermath and ruin wrought by cowboys....I desire the power available to the self-assured cowboys of the American West." In a stunning consideration of the enjoyment she takes in being sexually degraded by her White husband, Keyanah B. Nurse both implicates and empowers herself: "I center my own pleasure." Long stymied by self-doubt, Domenica Ruta acknowledges craving "that feeling of control I first discovered in my abortion...the knowledge that my body would do exactly what I wanted it to do." In an excellent study of Thomas Merton's thorny relationship with his yearnings, Amanda Petrusich writes, "It's a brutal cycle--we want things, we get things, we want more things, we get them, we want more." By turns piercing and bloated, the book's core magnetism lies in its breadth of voices and their respective depths. Other contributors include Larissa Pham, Karen Russell, Lisa Taddeo, Camille Dungy, and Melissa Febos. Despite repetitive language, this anthology will appeal to fans of women's short-form confessional nonfiction.

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February 1, 2023
What do women want? Based on a simple premise--write about desire--this essay collection is focused on unique, complex desires. Over 30 authors answered the call, setting aside fear of scrutiny in order to write authentically. And they leave it all on the floor, with admissions that threaten marriages, families, and friendships. This collection is juicy, start to finish, and ranges widely in topic: a mediation on yard work, a personal history of strap-ons, and everything in between. A single mother tries molly for the first time with a hot chef 10 years her junior. A polyamorous relationship is comprehensively recounted. An Indigenous author meditates on the pain inflicted upon the land under colonialism and capitalism and the desire to return the land to its pre-colonial richness. Another writer revisits the memory of a childhood abuser and the complicated desire she experienced during the time of the abuse. The book is impossible to put down. With abundant candor and grace, every piece is a courageous gift.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from February 24, 2023

Desire is messy, raw, and irrational as illustrated in this collection of 33 essays, most original for this book, that examine wants and needs from a woman's perspective. Numerous pieces spotlight sexual desires, many brought on by the loneliness of the pandemic, but this collection also contains a few surprises. In "Being a Dad Means Respecting the Yard," Florida author Kristen Arnett writes about the joy of a well-manicured lawn. "Appetite" by Michelle Wildgen explores eating for the sake of knowledge. Larissa Pham in "When I Imagine the Life I Want" discovers her need for a house near the ocean with a garden, a study, and studio desk. Kleptomania is the topic in Jane Wong's "The Thief." Jennifer De Leon outlines her need, as a new college graduate, for an SUV. Some essays include sexual predation and brutality. VERDICT Editors Margot Kahn and Kelly McMasters offer a thought-provoking collection that deserves to be talked about by readers. Recommended for discussion groups.--Joyce Sparrow

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