Elizabeth Renzetti

As a woman of the same vintage as Ms Renzetti but brought up in a very different household, I loved reading her perspective of the events we have both witnessed as women living in Canada. The essays have a wonderful strip of humour through them (always wished I had that gift in my writing) and cover some very important topics. I appreciate her discussion around intersectionality and the responsibility women like her and I have to the voices who have been silenced or marginalized in our lifetimes. Her "Four Lions" essay about her interviews with four influential women was inspiring and eye-opening. And if I hadn't been reading on a bus at the time I probably would have shouted "Amen" on every page in the essay, "You'll Pay For Those Breasts or The Costs of Being a Lady". Every man needs to read "The Way of the Harasser" (ideally they should read the whole book but I'll settle for that essay).

This is a clear clarion of change that's a must read for any feminist, especially ones who live in Canada.… (mehr)

Renzetti launches into a series of personal essays on feminism, drawn from her experiences in her private and professional lives. The book has potential but it just doesn't quite hit the right note: it's not intimate enough to elicit any real emotion and it is not researched enough to make new, compelling arguments. Instead it lives in that middle muddle - outrage and indignation sputtering in no clear direction. The second half of the book is definitely better than the first, and the reader may just want to skip the midpoint. Overall, Renzetti definitely missed an opportunity to be more creative, more authentic or more incisive.… (mehr)

Who could go past the exceptionally retro cool cover of Based on a True Story? Who could resist a book described as a combination of Absolutely Fabulous and The Devil Wears Prada? Not I, so it was a lovely surprise when I won an advance copy of this story from Allen & Unwin on Goodreads, because it was on my wish list already.

This book definitely has echoes of Eddie and Patsy in the protagonist, Augusta Price, in that she’s never without a bottle or two (sometimes cunningly disguised as contact lens solution) and that she craves the spotlight. However, as Augusta would say, she’s a true individual with an immensely fascinating life that she’s not planning on giving up any time soon. Firmly implanted in middle age, in Augusta’s head she’s still a stunning young vixen trying it on with everyone she meets. Unfortunately, her charm is wearing off after numerous rehab attempts and millions of falsifications and lies. Her son has abandoned her and her ex-lover has fashioned himself as L.A.’s ‘Mr Romance’. Augusta, once the darling of UK soap, now can’t even get a guest role. Stubbornly, she refuses to give up. Her heavily edited (and ghost-written) memoir is the only thing going for her, so she decides to employ newly unemployed journalist Frances to write a sequel. This involves going to a fan conference in America, stalking her ex-lover and getting into incredibly crazy situations.

Augusta was written in such a way that I didn’t feel sorry for her. The scrapes she gets herself into are generally of her own doing and reluctance to accept that she stuffed up. She’s stubborn and childish. Frances is the complete opposite. She’s the voice of too much reason, always cautious and always thinking of the implications of her actions. I was expecting the road trip the pair take to have positive effects on both of them, but I don’t know how much either of them learnt! Ken, Mr Romance, remained a bit of an enigma – is he so much in love with Augusta that he accepts her unconditionally? Or is he too fed up to care? Charles, their son, played a more minor role that what I would have expected. There wasn’t a showdown and it all seemed to disappear off into the mist.

However flawed the characters, Based on a True Story is a page-turner. I just couldn’t stop reading about Augusta’s japes. Each time, she excelled herself in setting a new low. By the end, I was expecting Augusta to finally grow up, but it’s somewhat ambiguous. On reflection, I think this ending really works – you can highlight the positive progress or you can feel smug that Augusta will muck it up soon enough. That way, the ending works whether you liked her character or not. It’s a light read, great for summer – plus the cover is so fashionable it will go with your wardrobe!

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com… (mehr)